DFINITY has released what may prove to be one of the most consequential papers in the Internet Computer’s short history, laying out a detailed plan to reshape ICP tokenomics with the explicit goal of cutting inflation by at least 70 percent by the end of 2026. Branded as “Mission 70 and Accelerating the Internet Computer Economy”, the paper combines technical modelling with a clear policy stance: the current incentive structure reflects an early bootstrap phase, and it is time for it to change.
At its core, the paper argues that long-term sustainability depends on two levers being pulled at the same time. On the supply side, the amount of new ICP being minted through voting rewards and node provider payments needs to come down. On the demand side, real usage of the network must rise sharply, increasing the rate at which ICP is burned when converted into cycles. DFINITY is clear that neither approach works well in isolation. Even if usage growth alone could hit the Mission 70 target, the foundation believes supply-side reform is still essential to give the network a more stable economic footing.
The supply argument starts with governance staking. Since genesis, voting rewards have been deliberately generous to compensate participants for very long lock-ups, with dissolve delays stretching up to eight years. According to the paper, those long commitments now create a structural problem. High rewards are required to justify the illiquidity, and those rewards flow directly into inflation. DFINITY’s proposal is blunt: cap maximum dissolve delays at two years, cut minimum voting delays from six months to two weeks, and reduce reward levels proportionally.
This is not presented as a simple haircut. The paper outlines a redesigned reward curve that is convex rather than linear, offering modest incentives for short-term stakers while still favouring multi-year commitments. Long-term supporters who historically locked for the full eight years would receive a temporary boost, recognising their early alignment with the network. The overall effect, based on simulations using late-2025 neuron data, would be a reduction in voting-related inflation of just over 40 percent within a year.
Another notable change is the introduction of a hard cap on the voting reward pool once the initial eight-year bootstrap phase ends. Without a cap, absolute rewards grow as supply grows, even if participation remains flat. DFINITY’s proposal aims to keep governance-related minting predictable and bounded, a point likely to resonate with holders concerned about perpetual dilution.
Node provider rewards form the second major supply-side pillar. The paper does not mince words here either. Many Gen-1 nodes are fully amortised, a large proportion sit unused, and rewards remain well above estimated operating costs. Based on DFINITY’s own cost data, some providers are earning several times their monthly expenses. The proposal is to cut Gen-1 rewards by around 40 percent, a move the foundation argues would still leave most providers profitable while reducing inflationary pressure. A further reduction could occur naturally as providers exit or shift capacity elsewhere.
At the same time, the paper points toward a future built around newer, more secure hardware. Greater use of SEV-capable nodes would allow smaller but more secure subnets, increasing effective capacity without maintaining the current level of excess infrastructure. Combined, the changes to node rewards are projected to nearly halve inflation coming from this channel.
Taken together, the proposed supply-side measures would reduce gross ICP minting from about 9.7 percent in early 2026 to roughly 5.4 percent a year later. That is a substantial move, but still short of the Mission 70 target. The remaining gap is where demand comes in.
DFINITY’s confidence on the demand side rests largely on two ideas: onchain cloud engines and self-writing cloud platforms such as Caffeine.ai. Cloud engines are framed as application-specific execution environments that enterprises or developer groups can deploy with tailored security and performance characteristics. Under the proposed economic model, node providers running these engines would retain most of the revenue, while a fixed portion would be used to buy and burn ICP. The logic is simple: link real commercial cloud activity directly to token burn.
Caffeine.ai and similar tools are positioned as accelerants. By allowing applications to be created and maintained through natural language interaction, they aim to bring non-technical users onto the network. The paper suggests this could expand the addressable market well beyond traditional developers, with implications for usage that extend into enterprise workloads and new consumer-facing applications. If that adoption materialises, cycle burn could rise far beyond current levels. The paper notes that burn rates already exceeded the level required for Mission 70 for several months in 2025, suggesting the target is not purely theoretical.
For all its ambition, the paper does not read as a marketing exercise. It acknowledges trade-offs, transitional risks, and the need for careful governance decisions, particularly around reward reductions and migration mechanics. It also makes clear that many of these proposals would require Network Nervous System approval before becoming reality.
Still, the message is unmistakable. Mission 70 is being framed as a turning point, one where the Internet Computer moves away from bootstrap economics and toward a model that prioritises predictable inflation, aligned incentives, and usage-driven value. Whether the community embraces the full package remains to be seen, but the paper sets a clear direction and invites a serious debate about what sustainable growth should look like for ICP.
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