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Polkadot governance approved a cap of 2.1B DOT, replacing unlimited issuance.
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Inflation period will last two years, reducing long-term token supply growth.
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By 2040, supply will be ~1.9B DOT, far below the old model’s 3.4B projection.
Referendum Passes With Strong Support
Polkadot DAO voted to introduce a hard cap on the supply of DOT, a major shift from its previous unlimited issuance model. Referendum 1710 passed with 81% approval, setting the supply ceiling at 2.1 billion tokens.
The old framework issued about 120M new DOT annually without limit, which would have pushed total supply to over 3.4B by 2040.
Impact on Tokenomics
The new plan includes a two-year inflation phase, after which supply will stabilize under the 2.1B cap. The change is expected to make DOT more scarce over time, aligning Polkadot with other capped-supply assets like Bitcoin.
Polkadot DAO, through its OpenGov system, lets token holders submit proposals, vote, and delegate power. This supply change is among the most significant governance actions since the launch of OpenGov in 2023.
Market Reaction
DOT’s price slipped 2.2% to $4.32 following the news, though it’s still up nearly 10% on the week. The token’s market cap stands at $6.6B, according to The Block’s price tracker.
