Polkadot DAO Caps DOT Supply at 2.1 Billion in Landmark Governance Vote

By Marco Piccolo

Supply cap replaces unlimited inflation model

The Polkadot ecosystem has officially capped the total supply of its native token, DOT, at 2.1 billion, following the successful passage of Referendum 1710. The governance decision marks a pivotal shift from the blockchain’s previous tokenomics model, which featured unlimited annual issuance of 120 million DOT tokens.

🚨 DOT supply → capped at 2.1 Billion 🚨

The Polkadot DAO has signaled support for a hard cap, by passing Referendum 1710 on the “Wish For Change” track, with 81% in favor.

Today ⤵️

→ 1.6 Billion DOT exist
→ 120M DOT/year minted each year
→ No supply cap

What Ref. 1710… pic.twitter.com/OJMtDumAZC

— Polkadot (@Polkadot) September 14, 2025

According to the Polkadot DAO, which oversees the network through its decentralized governance framework OpenGov, the proposal passed with 81% voter approval. The change introduces a two-year token inflation cycle that will gradually reduce issuance over time, replacing the prior inflationary model.

“By 2040, supply would be ~1.91 billion under Ref 1710’s model vs ~3.4 billion under the current 120M/year model,” the Polkadot DAO stated in an announcement post.

The supply reduction schedule will reset every two years on Pi Day, March 14, with Polkadot aiming to instill greater scarcity into its ecosystem—a narrative popular among crypto investors, especially in comparison to Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million supply model.

At present, the total DOT supply stands at approximately 1.5 billion tokens. The capped model is expected to slow growth in supply considerably, potentially improving the asset’s appeal among institutional investors and long-term holders.

Positioning for institutional adoption

The supply cap coincides with Polkadot’s recent push to attract traditional finance players. In August, the network launched the Polkadot Capital Group, a new division focused on bridging Wall Street institutions with the blockchain’s infrastructure.

Polkadot just opened doors for Wall Street! 🇺🇸

Polkadot Capital Group has launched in the U.S.

Banks, funds, OTC desks, and exchanges now have direct access to the Polkadot ecosystem:
– DOT token
– Strategic partnerships
– Staking
– DeFi
– RWA

Just before the launch… pic.twitter.com/uUGBrEyKlj

— The Dots 🐂⭕️ (@TheDotsTalks) August 19, 2025

The initiative aims to highlight use cases in decentralized finance (DeFi), staking, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and other institutional-grade crypto applications.

Despite being marketed as an Ethereum competitor and co-founded by Ethereum veteran Gavin Wood, Polkadot has struggled to match Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi. While Ethereum holds over $132 billion in total value locked, Polkadot and its parachains manage around $423 million.

Source:: Polkadot DAO Caps DOT Supply at 2.1 Billion in Landmark Governance Vote