Core steps its block reward down every year instead of halving it

A Supply Cap Built in Bitcoin's Image

@Coredao_Org has structured the supply of its native token with a clear nod to Bitcoin. CORE mirrors Bitcoin's scarcity model with a fixed supply cap of 2.1 billion tokens, exactly 100 times Bitcoin's 21 million supply. According to Core's official documentation, this parallel is deliberate, positioning the network as a Bitcoin-aligned layer-1 blockchain that borrows sound-money principles from the original protocol.

New supply enters the market exclusively through block rewards paid to the validators who produce each block. Core's rewards come from two primary sources: a fixed block rewards schedule distributing CORE tokens gradually over an 81-year period, and transaction fees generated by activity on the Core blockchain.

Annual Steps, Not Four-Year Halvings

Where Bitcoin cuts its miner reward in half roughly every four years, Core takes a different approach. The CORE emission rate is reduced by 3.61% starting at every 10,512,000th block, approximately every 365 days. At the network's roughly three-second block time, that interval lands close to once per year, making each reduction far smaller than a Bitcoin halving but more frequent.

The emission follows an 81-year schedule with a 3.61% annual reduction rate for consensus block rewards, creating predictable, gradually decreasing issuance similar to Bitcoin's halvings but with a smoother curve. The design is intended to keep validator incentives intact over the long term rather than creating sharp supply shocks every few years.

On top of the declining emission curve, Core has also incorporated a burn mechanism. A percentage of all block rewards and transaction fees are burned, with the exact percentage determined by the DAO. However, Core is in the process of moving away from permanent burns. Instead of permanently removing tokens from circulation, these rewards and fees will be repurposed to support validator incentives, fund ecosystem projects, and cover operational needs.

The combined effect of a hard cap, a gradually declining emission rate, and active supply management gives Core a layered approach to monetary policy, one designed to balance long-term network security with predictable scarcity.

Sources
Core White Paper v1.0.7: Tokenomics
Core DAO Official Documentation: CORE Token Overview
Reflexivity Research: Core DAO Overview