---
title: "Network Emissions"
path: "/contents/tech/core-concepts/network-emissions"
version: "1.3.0"
author: "Hydrate"
createdAt: "2026-02-18T22:38:09.681Z"
updatedAt: "2026-07-23T23:10:23.552Z"
---

# Network Emissions

<Infobox>
| **Annual Emissions** | ~300 million XRD |
| **Total Emission** | ~12 billion XRD over ~40 years |
| **Distribution** | Validators → Stakers (minus commission) |
| **Mechanism** | Protocol-level, minted per epoch |
| **Uptime Floor** | < 98% participation → zero rewards for the epoch |
</Infobox>

## Overview

The [Radix network](https://www.radixdlt.com) mints new [XRD](/contents/tech/core-protocols/xrd-token) as **network emissions** to reward the [validators](/contents/tech/core-concepts/validator-nodes) and stakers who secure the ledger. Roughly **300 million XRD** is emitted per year, distributed at the protocol level to validators running [consensus](/contents/tech/core-protocols/cerberus-consensus-protocol) and shared with their delegators minus a commission. Emissions are the primary long-term incentive for [delegated proof-of-stake](/contents/tech/core-concepts/liquid-stake-units) security.

## Emission Schedule

A fixed **~12 billion XRD** is scheduled to be minted as network emissions over an approximately **40-year period**, working out to roughly 300 million XRD per year ([Radix Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/what-is-the-xrd-token)). This emission is additive to the ~12 billion XRD created at the [Olympia](/contents/tech/releases/radix-mainnet-olympia) genesis, giving XRD an eventual maximum supply of roughly 24 billion.

Emissions are not paid continuously. At the **end of each epoch** the protocol mints a fixed batch of XRD and allocates it across the active validator set in proportion to the stake delegated to each validator ([Radix Knowledge Base](https://learn.radixdlt.com/article/how-xrd-staking-emissions-rewards-and-validator-fees-are-calculated-for-validators)).

## How Rewards Reach Stakers

At the start of every epoch the protocol checks the total XRD staked to each validator and automatically selects a **validator set of 100** by stake weight for the duration of that epoch ([Radix Docs](https://docs.radixdlt.com/docs/validator)). Each validator's emission share is reduced by its **validator fee** (commission) before the remainder flows to delegators.

Stakers do not claim rewards transaction-by-transaction. Delegated XRD is represented by [Liquid Stake Units (LSUs)](/contents/tech/core-concepts/liquid-stake-units), whose redemption value against the validator's stake pool rises as emissions accrue — so a staker's rewards compound automatically each epoch ([Radix Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/how-do-token-holders-earn-and-claim-xrd-emissions-rewards)).

## Reliability and Penalties

Emissions are performance-weighted, not guaranteed. If a validator fails to participate in consensus during part of an epoch, a **penalty factor** is deducted from its emissions and those penalized tokens are **effectively burned** rather than redistributed ([Radix Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/what-kind-of-staking-system-does-radix-use)).

The penalty escalates sharply at the low end: if a validator's uptime drops **below 98%** in an epoch, it receives **zero rewards** for that epoch — and so do all of its delegators. This aligns incentives so that stakers seek out well-run, reliable validators and node-runners are pushed to keep their nodes performant.

## Emissions and Supply

Network emissions are inflationary by design, but two burn mechanisms temper their effect on circulating supply: burned reliability penalties (above), and the burning of network transaction fees — **50% of every base network fee is permanently destroyed** by the protocol ([Radix Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/start-here-radix-tokens-and-tokenomics)). The long-run balance between scheduled emissions and this fee/penalty burn is examined on the [Radix Economic Model](/contents/tech/research/radix-economic-model) page.

## External Links

- [What is the XRD token? — Radix Knowledge Base](https://www.radixdlt.com/articles-learn/what-is-the-xrd-token)
- [How XRD staking emissions rewards and validator fees are calculated](https://learn.radixdlt.com/article/how-xrd-staking-emissions-rewards-and-validator-fees-are-calculated-for-validators)
- [Validators — Radix Docs](https://docs.radixdlt.com/docs/validator)