Wormhole Jumps 11% on Revised Tokenomics and Reserve Initiative

Wormhole, a cross-chain bridge connecting over 40 blockchain networks, unveiled a tokenomics overhaul on Wednesday, hinting at updated staking incentives, a strategic reserve for the W token, and a smoother unlock schedule.

The price of W jumped 11% on the news to $0.096, though the token is still down 92% since its debut in April 2024.

In a blog post, Wormhole said it’s planning to set up a “Wormhole Reserve” that will accumulate on-chain and off-chain revenues “to support the growth of the Wormhole ecosystem.”

The protocol also said it plans to target a 4% base yield for governance stakers, replacing the current variable APY system, noting that “yield will come from a combination of the existing token supply and protocol revenues.” It’s unclear whether Wormhole will draw from the reserve to fund this target. Wormhole did not immediately respond to The Defiant’s request for comment.

Wormhole emphasized that the maximum supply of 10 billion W tokens will remain the same, while large annual token unlocks will be replaced by a bi-weekly distribution beginning Oct. 3 to eliminate “moments of concentrated market pressure.”

Data from CoinGecko shows there are over 4.7 billion W tokens in circulation, meaning that more than half the supply is yet to be unlocked, with portions of that supply to be released over the next 4.5 years.