Question 1

What is ASTR, and what are its on-chain uses?

Accepted Answer

ASTR is the native economic and governance token of Astar Network. It can be used to pay transaction fees on Astar, participate in on-chain governance, and lock and stake in dApp Staking to support registered applications. Therefore, holding ASTR does not automatically grant a fixed return or equity in an application. Its on-chain functions correspond respectively to transaction execution, governance voting, and dApp Staking; whether staking rewards can be earned also depends on meeting the phase and eligibility requirements of that mechanism.

Question 2

What did Tokenomics 3.0 change, and when did it take effect?

Accepted Answer

Tokenomics 3.0 is ASTR's current issuance and dApp Staking framework. It was activated through two on-chain governance referenda in March 2026 and replaced Tokenomics 2.0. It was not merely a name update: it simultaneously changed the issuance curve, reward-pool allocation, and the eligibility scope for dApp rewards. Compared with the old model, the annual inflation soft cap was reduced from 7% to 5.5%, and a decay factor was added to per-block issuance, making the long-term total supply approach approximately 10 billion ASTR. User-facing bonus rewards were removed, with their former allocation moved into the base and adjustable staking reward pools. dApp rewards were also narrowed from about 72 active projects to at most 16 per era. Historical parameters from the old model should not be used to assess current rewards or newly issued supply.

Question 3

How do ASTR supply and the annual issuance cap work?

Accepted Answer

ASTR does not have a hard maximum supply at which issuance stops at a particular moment. Under the current rules, new issuance decreases block by block, so total supply approaches approximately 10 billion ASTR over the long term. Approaching that level does not mean supply has already been fixed at 10 billion, nor that exactly the same amount will be issued every year. The issuance amount for each block is multiplied by the 0.999999960 (99.9999960%) decay factor, so planned issuance for the next block is slightly lower than for the prior block. At the start of each approximately one-year cycle, the annual soft cap is calculated as “0.055 × total issuance at that time”; 5.5% is the cap for that cycle, not a promised actual annual inflation rate.

Question 4

Who receives newly issued ASTR, and why can actual inflation be below 5.5%?

Accepted Answer

The 5.5% annual soft cap first creates a planned issuance allocation for a cycle, which is then allocated to base staking rewards, adjustable staking rewards, dApp rewards, the treasury, and collator (block producer) rewards. Their respective shares are 15.8%, 63%, 13%, 5%, and 3.2%. These shares are not all necessarily minted in full. The base staking pool is allocated by era; the adjustable pool depends on network-wide staking participation; and if dApp reward tiers are not filled, the unused portion is not minted. Therefore, “5.5%” cannot be treated directly as the actual inflation rate, much less as any holder's yield.

Question 5

How does the 50% ideal staking rate affect ASTR's adjustable rewards?

Accepted Answer

Adjustable staking rewards rise with the total staking rate and are capped when total staked amount reaches 50% of total issuance. Its minting share can be written as: 63% × min(total staked amount ÷ (total issuance × 0.50), 1). Here, 63% is the adjustable pool's share of the cycle issuance allocation, and 50% is the ideal staking rate. For example, if the total staked amount is 25% of total issuance, meaning it has reached half of the 50% ideal staking rate, only 50% of the adjustable pool is minted; the remainder is not held for later issuance. This design makes actual issuance lower than the soft cap when participation is insufficient, but an individual's proceeds still depend on factors such as their staked amount relative to network-wide effective stake and eligibility for a full era.

Question 6

What is dApp Staking, and what is the difference between locking and staking?

Accepted Answer

dApp Staking is Astar's mechanism for directing part of inflation rewards to both application developers and supporters: users first lock ASTR to become eligible to stake, then stake some of that ASTR to a specific dApp; applications compete for dApp rewards by receiving support, while stakers receive a share from the staker reward pool. Locking is not the same as already staking. Locked ASTR that has not been assigned to a dApp can be used to initiate staking; choosing a dApp does not turn a staker's APR into a share of that project's operating performance. Under Tokenomics 3.0, staker rewards are calculated at the protocol level according to network-wide effective staking, while a dApp's reward eligibility and ranking depend on the tier it enters based on the support it receives.

Question 7

How are the annual dApp Staking cycle and reward eligibility calculated?

Accepted Answer

Under Astar's current parameters, a dApp Staking cycle is about one year: it starts with a Voting subperiod of about one day, followed by a Build&Earn subperiod of about 364 days; one era is about 14,400 blocks, or about 24 hours. Voting establishes support relationships for the next stage and does not itself generate user-facing bonus or staking rewards. Rewards are generated only during Build&Earn. If staking occurs during Voting, the funds prepare for the subsequent Build&Earn period; if stake is added or adjusted during Build&Earn, the updated amount generally enters reward calculations only from the next era. At the end of each cycle, stake is automatically reset to zero, but the assets remain locked, and a dApp must be selected again for the next cycle.

Question 8

How are stakers' ASTR rewards calculated, and why is APR not fixed?

Accepted Answer

For a complete era for which eligibility requirements are met, the staker's basic allocation relationship is: individual reward = the era's staker reward pool × individual effective stake ÷ network-wide effective stake. The reward pool consists of a base component and an adjustable component; the latter is affected by the network-wide staking rate relative to the 50% ideal level. Therefore, staking more ASTR does not mean multiplying a fixed APR by the amount: the denominator changes with network-wide effective staking, and the issuance pool also changes with participation. To receive rewards for an era, the stake must remain effective throughout that era; amounts unstaked or moved during Build&Earn lose eligibility for that era's calculation.

Question 9

How do dApps receive rewards, and why do not all applications share in them?

Accepted Answer

Not every registered dApp automatically receives dApp rewards. Under Tokenomics 3.0, at most 16 dApps per era can fall within the reward-eligible range; projects must first rank by total staking support received and meet tier thresholds, then have their rewards calculated within active tiers according to deterministic tier and ranking weights. This differs from a system in which developers receive all rewards in the same proportion as the stake a project attracts: tier capacity, thresholds, and ranking all affect the result. If tiers are not filled by enough eligible dApps, the corresponding unused dApp rewards are not minted, which also lowers actual issuance.

Question 10

After stopping dApp Staking, when can ASTR be transferred, and when can rewards be claimed?

Accepted Answer

Unstaking and unlocking are two different actions. A user can unstake, but the unstaked amount immediately stops counting toward staking rewards for the current and subsequent eras; to restore full transferability, the user must also initiate unlocking and wait through the unlocking period. Astar's current unlocking period is 9 eras, or about 9 days, although the actual duration may vary slightly with block production timing. Rewards can be claimed only after an era has ended, and the protocol requires unclaimed rewards to be handled before continuing to stake or unstake; unclaimed rewards are not retained indefinitely and cannot be claimed after they expire. Astar's current minimum stake per dApp is 500 ASTR, and ASTR sufficient to meet the account's transferable-balance requirement should also be retained. Parameters may be adjusted through governance; when operating, the on-chain interface display should prevail.

Question 11

How can holding ASTR participate in governance, and what can governance change?

Accepted Answer

ASTR holders can submit or vote on referenda through on-chain governance. Governance matters may cover protocol direction, dApp Staking, treasury allocations, and tokenomics parameters. Voting weight is related to the ASTR held and dApp Staking positions, and votes and results are recorded on-chain. This means that matters such as the issuance decay rate, inflation cap, and reward allocation are not immutable commitments: modifying them requires an on-chain proposal and voting process. Governance rights are rights to participate in protocol decisions; they are not a legal claim on Astar organizational revenue, assets, or fixed buybacks.

Question 12

Which mechanisms may affect ASTR's tradable supply and demand for use?

Accepted Answer

Mechanisms related to ASTR supply and demand cannot be reduced to “higher network activity will make the price rise.” Transaction activity may create demand for on-chain fees paid in ASTR; dApp Staking places some ASTR in a locked or staked state; and decaying issuance, adjustable rewards that are not minted when participation is insufficient, and dApp rewards that are not minted when eligibility conditions are met affect the pace at which additional available supply is created. These elements only describe possible transmission paths and do not guarantee a price outcome. Whether fee demand comes from ASTR, whether users choose to lock, whether other holders buy or sell, liquidity, and market expectations can all change the outcome; the 5.5% soft cap, the long-term convergence target of approximately 10 billion, and Burndrop's voluntary permanent burn mechanism also must not be understood as price commitments.

Astar Token (ASTR) Price