On July 6, NEAR Protocol’s on-chain governance body, House of Stake, approved proposal HSP-027, which eliminates the gas fee rebates for developers that have been in place since the protocol’s launch.
This change will result in all network gas fees being burned rather than partially returned to smart contract owners, potentially activating a deflationary mechanism without altering the overall value accrual model of the network.
Under the current scheme, 30% of the gas fees generated by smart contract calls are directed to the contract owner, while the remaining 70% are burned. Following the implementation of the changes, expected around August 2026 with the release of nearcore v2.14, the rebate will be reduced to 0%. This was reported by a delegate known as Vini B, who participated in the vote.
NEAR is making another change to its tokenomics
the developer gas rebate is being removed
expected to August 2026 (nearcore v2.14)> before: 30% of all gas fees paid to smart contract calls were allocated to the smart contract owner, while 70% were burned
> after: the gas… https://t.co/91SQ5NV9xg pic.twitter.com/ImUezI6Aw6
— Vini B |「 thecoding 」 (@vinibarbosabr) July 6, 2026
He provided the final results for proposal HSP-027: 46 votes, representing 4.66 million veNEAR, were in favor, and two votes, representing 1819 veNEAR, were against.
The Near DevHub developer relations account highlighted this vote in early July, warning creators:
“Do not budget this gas bonus into your dApp anymore.”
House of Stake described the measure as aimed at reducing “protocol complexity and incorrect incentives for developers.”
Great to see this passing.
This is removing something that doesn’t work to keep NAER Protocol simpler and cleaner going forward.
Initially I designed developer gas rebate as an incentive for developers to build components that others will reuse.
But as adoption of NEAR… https://t.co/6bzYUqqH9L
— Illia (root.near) (🇺🇦, ⋈) (@ilblackdragon) July 6, 2026
NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin, who originally designed the rebate mechanism to incentivize developers, noted that the system no longer reflects how most NEAR-based applications monetize. He believes projects typically sponsor gas costs for users and generate revenue through spreads, subscriptions, or advertising.
He also mentioned an accounting issue:
“The rebate was difficult to distinguish from regular user deposits.”
Polosukhin characterized this vote as a test of House of Stake’s authority over NEAR’s key economic parameters, stating it was a “great test” ahead of future proposals and that he is “glad to see clear governance of NEAR’s economy.”
Earlier, in January, Vitalik Buterin criticized modern DAOs and called for their reform.
