Aptos Staking Rewards Slashed by 50%? New Proposal Triggers Debate

Aptos is making headlines with a bold proposal that could dramatically change its staking rewards. On April 18, a community member named MoonSheisty put forward a plan to cut rewards by nearly 50%. The idea of lowering staking returns from 7% to 3.79% over the next three months has sparked plenty of discussion – but not everyone is on board.

Here’s what’s brewing.

Understanding the New Aptos Proposal

The proposal, AIP-119, was created by Sherry Xiao from Aptos Labs and developer Moon Shiesty, who is working on the Aptos and Movement-based protocol Mirage.

The main goal behind the proposal is to make Aptos more aligned with other Layer-1 blockchains and improve capital efficiency. While the idea gained attention on X, early comments on GitHub show some hesitation from community members.

To balance the proposed cut, the plan includes creating a Community Validator Program. This would provide grants and staking opportunities for smaller validators who help maintain and grow the Aptos network.

According to DeFiLlama, Aptos had a total value locked (TVL) of $974 million as of April 18. Of this, around $320 million comes from Aries Markets, a popular lending protocol on the platform.

Worries About Decentralization

Not everyone is convinced. A community member named ElagabalxNode pointed out that reducing staking rewards without offering “compensatory mechanisms,” like a strong delegation program, could push smaller validators out. This, they warned, might hurt the network’s decentralization and long-term strength.

The member politely raised concerns about the proposal (AIP), saying that with the current token price and staking conditions, it’s already hard for smaller validators to break even. Notably, they run validator nodes on both Aptos and Solana. While a similar proposal was debated on Solana, but it was ultimately rejected, as it could cut rewards for smaller validators and could have harmed the network’s decentralization.

The member supports revisiting Aptos tokenomics for long-term growth but urges a balanced approach that considers validator sustainability. They suggest a phased plan with impact reviews and support programs like those seen in Celestia or Solana.

MoonSheisty believes that high staking rewards might hold users back from exploring higher-risk, higher-reward opportunities—such as restaking, DePIN infrastructure, MEV strategies, and DeFi projects. The proposal aims to shift focus from passive income to innovation and growth within the ecosystem.

Staking rewards vary a lot across blockchains. BNB Smart Chain offers one of the highest real returns at 7.43%, while Cardano gives just 0.55%. Aptos currently offers a staking yield of about 7%, higher than Ethereum’s 3.1% but lower than what is offered on Cosmos’ ATOM stakers at 15%, and similar to Avalanche’s 7.6%. Sherry Xiao also suggested the Aptos Foundation remove inactive validators. The AIP-119 proposal will gather community feedback for four weeks before being submitted to mainnet.

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What Staking Really Does

Besides offering rewards, staking plays a key role in blockchain networks. It locks tokens on-chain, helps validators, and secures the system. The rewards are somewhat like interest from a savings account—but instead of cash, users earn crypto, which can change in value.

Aptos Joins a Wider Trend

Changes to staking aren’t new. Polkadot recently proposed cutting its unstaking period to just two days. Starknet rolled out a new staking model in September. Even Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin has shared ideas for solving staking challenges.

As Aptos weighs this proposal, the community is actively shaping the future of the network – and everyone’s watching to see what happens next.

How the network balances growth, decentralization, and innovation in the months ahead could define its next chapter.