IOST3.0 Tokenomics Overview

Evolution of Blockchain Economic Models

Blockchain technology has evolved significantly from Bitcoin's simple mining model to Ethereum's smart contract platform, and further to the diverse economic models of third-generation public chains. Token economics has undergone remarkable transformation. Early models primarily incentivized network participants through inflation, but neglected long-term sustainability and real-world adoption scenarios. This has led many projects to face continuous token value depreciation and imbalanced ecosystem development.

Evolution of IOST Token Economics

2018-2020: Early Exploration Phase

When IOST was born, we adopted a classic PoS consensus mechanism and token economic model, encouraging node participation in network maintenance through staking rewards. With an initial total supply of 21 billion IOST, block rewards were distributed in an annual halving format. During this period, we focused on building high-performance, scalable public chain infrastructure and establishing an initial token economic circulation system.

IOST's early tokenomics design showed certain innovations compared to other public chain projects at the time, such as the Servi resource model and contribution scoring system. However, it still couldn't completely solve the common challenges facing blockchain projects: actual value capture and long-term sustainability.

2020-2022: Maturity Development Phase

With changes in the market environment and the maturation of the IOST network, we implemented the first round of optimizations to our token economics: introducing more refined node incentive mechanisms, improving voting weight calculation methods, and attempting to expand ecosystem application coverage through community funding programs. During this phase, IOST processed over 900 million transactions, validating its technical reliability, but also exposing the insufficient alignment between the token economic model and actual application scenarios.

2022-2024: Strategic Transformation Phase

Facing emerging demands for Web3 payments and real-world asset onboarding, IOST entered a strategic transformation phase. We reconsidered the essential role of token economics: it should not only ensure network security but also serve as a bridge connecting on-chain value with the real world. During this phase, we researched and designed the new IOST 3.0 token economic model, laying the foundation for the upcoming major upgrade.

2025: IOST 3.0 Era Begins

The IOST 3.0 economic model is formally implemented, introducing multi-layered burning mechanisms, RWA tokenization value cycles, and deep integration with the real economy, opening a new era for the IOST ecosystem. This brand-new model will address the core pain points faced by traditional blockchain economies, creating long-term sustainable value for ecosystem participants.

Current Blockchain Token Economic Model Pain Points

⚠️

Value Capture Dilemma

Most public chain projects face a common problem: despite growing on-chain activity, token value fails to effectively capture the value created by these activities. Transaction fees struggle to balance usability with value accumulation, causing tokens to become disconnected from network success.

📉

Inflation Pressure and Sustainability Challenges

Excessive inflation rates and simple linear release models lead to continuous selling pressure, while the lack of effective burning mechanisms makes it difficult to balance token supply. Many projects fail to design economic models that automatically adjust with network growth.

⚖️

Unbalanced Incentive Mechanisms

Unbalanced distribution of benefits among node operators, developers, and ordinary users often leads to power centralization and declining participation. Incentives are overly focused on maintaining network security while neglecting ecosystem building and actual application development.

🔄

Insufficient Real Economy Integration

Most token economic models lack effective connection points with the real economy, limiting token use cases to speculation and on-chain transactions, failing to achieve true value circulation and real-world application.

IOST 3.0 Tokenomics: Redefining Value Creation and Distribution

Integrated Value Capture System

IOST 3.0 has designed an integrated value capture system, establishing direct connections between token value and actual usage through three major scenarios: payment infrastructure, real-world asset tokenization, and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN). This multi-layered architecture ensures that token holders benefit collectively as network value grows.

Dynamic Balance Supply Mechanism

Unlike simple halving or linear release models, IOST 3.0 adopts a dynamically balanced supply mechanism, building a system that automatically adjusts supply with increased network usage through a four-layer burning model (transaction fee burning, node MEV burning, ecosystem burning, and DAO-initiated burning), achieving long-term sustainable development.

Ecosystem-First Resource Allocation

IOST 3.0 breaks the limitations of traditional models that overemphasize node incentives, allocating 97% of newly issued tokens to ecosystem building, establishing a comprehensive resource allocation framework that ensures reasonable returns for developers, merchants, users, and infrastructure providers.

Deep Integration with the Real Economy

Through innovative PayPIN and PayFi solutions, IOST establishes a direct bridge from the token economy to the real economy, making IOST not just a digital asset, but a practical tool connecting Web3 with traditional business, expanding the practical use cases for tokens.

Breakthrough Innovation Points

🔄

RWA Tokenization Value Cycle

IOST 3.0 pioneered a complete real-world asset tokenization value cycle system, establishing a unique value capture path by converting part of the value generated from real-world asset onboarding into token demand and burning mechanisms.

🌟

Multi-level Participation Incentive Architecture

From lightweight users to professional node operators, IOST 3.0 has designed differentiated yet complementary incentive mechanisms, allowing different types of ecosystem participants to find value creation methods matching their resources and capabilities.

🏛️

Governance-Driven Economic Regulation

IOST 3.0 transfers the adjustment rights of certain key economic parameters to community governance, enabling dynamic optimization of parameters through Nexus DAO, ensuring the economic model can respond to market changes and community needs.

Conclusion

IOST 3.0's token economics represents an important exploration of sustainable token models in the blockchain industry, not only solving the inherent defects of traditional models but also expanding the boundaries between blockchain and the real economy through innovative design. With the deployment of payment infrastructure and the continuous onboarding of real-world assets, IOST token economics will usher in unprecedented growth opportunities, becoming an important link connecting the digital world with the physical world.

We believe that token economics is not only about price fluctuations but more fundamentally about the mechanisms of value creation, distribution, and capture. The economic model design of IOST 3.0 reflects our profound understanding of the true value of blockchain technology and our firm commitment to building a more fair, efficient, and sustainable financial system.