TIA (TIA) tokenomics

The Celestia network's native token, TIA, is central to its modular blockchain architecture, serving purposes across network security, transaction fees, and decentralized governance. The token launched on October 31, 2023, with an initial total supply of 1 billion TIA and no maximum supply.

Issuance Mechanism

Celestia utilizes an inflationary issuance mechanism to reward network participants, primarily validators and delegators, through its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus.

• Initial Inflation Rate: TIA inflation began at 8.00% annually for the first year following the mainnet launch.
• Inflation Reduction Schedule: The inflation rate is designed to decrease by 10.00% every year thereafter, starting on October 31, 2024.
• Long-Term Rate: This reduction continues until the inflation rate reaches a constant long-term issuance rate of 1.50%, which is projected to occur on October 31, 2039, and onwards.
• Reward Distribution: Of the total inflationary token emissions, 98.00% is allocated to reward validators and delegators, while the remaining 2.00% is directed to the Community Pool to fund ecosystem initiatives.

Note: A proposal by a Celestia co-founder in June 2025 suggested replacing the current Proof-of-Stake system with an experimental "Proof of Governance" to cut TIA issuance by 95%, though this represents a proposed strategic shift rather than the current mechanism.

Allocation Mechanism

The initial total supply of 1 billion TIA at genesis was distributed across five main categories, with a significant portion allocated to insiders and future development.

Key Allocation Details:

• Insiders: The combined allocation for Initial Core Contributors and Early Backers (Seed, Series A & B) totals 53.2% of the initial supply.
• Genesis Airdrop: A total of 60 million TIA (6.00% of the initial supply) was distributed via the Genesis Airdrop to developers and onchain addresses across Ethereum, rollups, Cosmos Hub, and Osmosis.

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

TIA serves multiple critical functions within the Celestia modular data availability network:

Network Security and Incentives (Proof-of-Stake)

• Staking: Celestia operates as a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain. Users can operate a validator node or delegate their TIA to an active validator to help secure the network.
• Rewards: Active validators (an initial set of 100) earn block rewards, which consist of inflationary emissions and network transaction fees. Validators receive a commission rate from the total block reward, and the remainder is distributed pro-rata to delegators based on their stake.
• Delegation: Tokenholders can delegate TIA to a single validator to share in the block rewards, minus the validator's commission rate.

Utility and Transaction Fees

• Data Availability Fees: Networks utilizing Celestia for data availability must submit "PayforBlobs" transactions, which require a network transaction fee payable exclusively in TIA. These fees consist of a flat fee plus a variable fee based on the size of the data blob.
• Gas Token for Rollups: Developers can use TIA as both a medium of exchange and a gas token to accelerate the launch of new blockchains, similar to how ETH functions on Ethereum rollups. This allows developers to focus on the execution layer without immediately issuing their own token.

Governance

• Voting Rights: TIA stakers can vote on onchain Celestia Improvement Proposals (CIPs) that affect various network parameters, such as the percentage of inflationary emissions sent to the Community Pool or how Community Pool funds are spent.
• Governance Parameters: The voting period is seven days, requiring a quorum of 33.40% of the staked token supply. A simple majority of 50.00% of the voting power used is needed for approval.
• Token Burning: A token burn mechanism is in place: if the "No_with_Veto" option receives a majority vote of over 33.40% on an onchain CIP, the TIA deposit associated with that proposal is burned.

Locking Mechanism and Unlocking Schedule

A significant portion of the TIA supply is subject to vesting schedules, which include a cliff period followed by continuous linear unlocking.

Vesting Schedules by Allocation Group

Note: All tokens, whether locked or unlocked, may be staked. However, any staking rewards earned are unlocked upon receipt and immediately contribute to the circulating supply.

Upcoming Unlocks (Starting December 4, 2025)

The following table details the next scheduled daily token unlocks for Celestia (TIA) starting from today's date, December 4, 2025, for the "Team Advisors" and "Community/Incentives" allocation groups.