Flow Foundation takes a series of concrete actions to strengthen FLOW. This article describes three initiatives: a token buyback and burn, ongoing token acquisition with structural liquidity improvements, and long-term inflation management.
Why it matters
A healthy token economy underpins everything built on the network. Developers evaluate where to build based on economic strength and ecosystem sustainability. Validators commit resources to networks whose economic situation is structurally sound. Users interact with applications where they trust the underlying infrastructure. When the token economy works well, all participants benefit.
The Foundation recognizes its responsibility here. Protocol development alone is not enough to maintain a healthy network economy. The network requires deliberate economic management to ensure FLOW functions effectively as a staking asset, transaction currency, and medium of exchange across the ecosystem.
The actions described below represent a commitment by the Foundation to deploy capital for the long-term economic health of FLOW. This is the initial phase of an ongoing engagement and not a one-off intervention.
1. Redemption and burning of 50 million FLOW
On February 23, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. PTthe Foundation will permanently destroy 50,343,896.87 DEBIT tokens, removing them from circulation entirely. These tokens were acquired through a combination of open market purchases and Foundation treasury funds raised over a two-month period from December 27, 2025 to February 22, 2026. This represents approximately 3% of FLOW’s total supply.
Once burned, these tokens cannot be recovered or reintroduced into circulation. The burn transaction will be permanent, irreversible and verifiable on-chain via block explorers. Transaction hashes will be added to this article after execution.
Update – This engraving is now complete and you can view it on-chain here:
2. Continuous accumulation and improved liquidity
Flow Foundation undertakes to acquire at least an additional amount 50,000,000 DEBIT of the free market over the coming months, which will be kept in the Foundation’s treasury. This is a direct and sustained investment in the long-term health of FLOW.
At the same time, the Foundation is working to improve liquidity infrastructure and market-making partnerships across multiple platforms, with the goal of ensuring a healthy order book and efficient price discovery for participants around the world.
3. Reduce effective inflation thanks to the protocol economy
In December 2025, a network-wide transaction fee update went live on mainnet, moving Flow from subsidized growth to a self-sustaining business model. The update increased transaction fees so that more of the validator rewards are funded by network activity rather than the issuance of new tokens.
This model is designed to make FLOW deflationary net at a sustained throughput of 250 transactions per second, the point at which fees collected exceed new tokens issued for staking rewards. The network is expected to reach this threshold thanks to the growth of consumer applications, including Peak Money, NBA Top Shot, Flowty and others. Even with the increase in fees, transaction costs on Flow remain among the lowest of all Layer 1 networks.
What this means for FLOW holders
No action is required. The staking and FLOW token mechanics remain unchanged. Staking rewards continue to be distributed at the current rate (approximately 9% APY). None of these actions affect user assets, staking operations, or reward calculations.
Summary
This combination of a buyback and burn, continued accumulation, enhanced liquidity, and inflation management collectively strengthens the long-term economics of the FLOW token. These activities will take place over the course of 2026, with the first – the permanent destruction of 50M FLOW – scheduled for Monday, February 23, 2026.
To learn more about FLOW’s token economy, visit flow.com/flow-tokenomics/technical-overview.
