Aptos recently achieved its highest single-day transaction count this quarter, processing over 16 million transactions in early July. This impressive milestone underscores that the governance changes made in April are functioning as intended, significantly enhancing the blockchain’s activity.
What governance updates were implemented and why do they matter? The recent governance upgrade was substantial, as Aptos increased gas fees by tenfold, established a hard cap on the total supply of APT tokens at 2.1 billion, and reduced staking rewards. They also decided that all transaction fees will be burned, meaning they are permanently removed from circulation. Additionally, the Aptos Foundation locked 210 million APT tokens permanently, altering the supply landscape.
Despite the notable increase in transaction costs, which amount to an average of just $0.0005, the network has indicated robust performance. In June 2026 alone, Aptos recorded 83.7 million transactions in a week, marking its strongest weekly performance of the year. The token burn is gaining traction, with 235,200 APT tokens burned in the month leading up to this report and a total of 1.4 million APT burned since the mainnet's launch in October 2022.
How do these changes affect investors? Monthly emissions from staking currently stand at around 1.6 million APT, which exceeds the burn rate, indicating that net supply is still increasing. The critical point at which token burns surpass new issuance hinges on sustained or increased transaction volumes.
The April governance enhancements align closely with Ethereum's EIP-1559 strategy, where a portion of base fees is burned rather than benefitting validators or a treasury. This relationship effectively ties network activity to a reduction in supply, demonstrating how demand can impact prices positively. Investors need to monitor how these measures influence market dynamics and supply volumes moving forward.