peaq Economics 2.0 goes live on mainnet: Here's what's included in phase 1

In July, we introduced Economics 2.0, the economic upgrade built to set machines free. Today, phase 1 goes live on peaq mainnet.

The token flow now runs on the new model. Machine bonding is on. From today, every robot and machine that activates bonds $PEAQ, building Economic Weight from its first block. The new Machine Explorer shows how machines are using the network and consuming PEAQ, all in one place.

Check out the Machine Explorer under → machines.peaq.xyz

This article goes in depth in order to explain what got changed under the hood and what that means for builders, token holders, stakers, and node operators, as well as a future outlook on what comes next.

If you're new to peaq's Economics 2.0 or want the full architecture first, the announcement post, the initial blog and the economics paper are the places to start.

Economics 2.0 is a major upgrade, so we've deliberately structured this post with a table of contents. Jump to the section that matters to you or read it end to end.

1. Phase 1 Overview

Phase 1 puts the core of the Economics 2.0 architecture on mainnet: the new token utilities, the new token flow, and the first wave of machine migration.

1a. Token Utility

Quick overview of the core mechanisms going live now.

• Machine activation and bonding
• Bonding Rewards
• Growth credits
• Lifecycle economics
• Trust validator staking
• Coordination fees, omnichain

Economics 2.0 is built around one idea: every machine carries Economic Weight — a verifiable, bonded stake that grants it access to the economy it works and lives in. Six mechanisms go live today to make that real:

• Machine activation and bonding. Every machine that activates now bonds $PEAQ. Activations are priced in US dollars across three tiers — Entry, Basic, and Pro — and settle in $PEAQ, with an oracle stamping the rate. The operator sees a dollar price; the network handles the bond. That bonded position is the machine's Economic Weight: its standing in the economy, earned commitment by commitment, never tradeable — the standing counterparties can instantly verify before doing business with it.

• Bonding Rewards. Operators accrue tier points every subscription period, and rewards distribute every epoch — one every 12 hours. They're not liquid yield: rewards redeem only as discounts on future renewals, so incentive emissions never hit the market as sell pressure.
• Growth Credits. Operators generating service revenue earn credits that can be used for exactly one thing: activating new machines. They cannot be withdrawn, traded, or spent on anything else — so every credit redeemed becomes another machine activation, and therefore more $PEAQ bonded. Productive fleets fund their own expansion at zero cash cost, and the network's bonded base grows with them. The split between Bonding Rewards and Growth Credits adjusts automatically with network size, heavily favoring growth in the early stages and shifting toward operator retention as the network scales.
• Lifecycle economics. A machine that doesn't renew gets a 14-day grace window, then a 14-day runoff. During runoff, 50% of the remaining bonded position is permanently burned and 50% goes to the Treasury. Every exit tightens supply — deterministic and predictable.
• Trust Validator staking. Public staking consolidates into its sole venue: Trust Validation — the layer that verifies real-world machine activity actually happened. Validators self-stake, delegators stake behind them, and both share in rewards and in slashing, which splits 50/50 between burn and Treasury.
• Coordination fees, on every chain. Robots and machines pay per-event fees in the native currency of whichever chain they do business on — including USDC via the x402 payment protocol, the rail built for machine-to-machine payments. Fees split 50/50 between the Treasury and Trust Validator staking, unconverted, and feed straight into the Growth Credit revenue basis. Stablecoins carry the money; $PEAQ carries the trust.

1b. Token Flow

Until today, newly issued $PEAQ and network fees were distributed across the network's original architecture — a set of purpose-built pools, reserves, and campaign wallets. That design got peaq here. Economics 2.0 asks something different of it: one clear flow, and incentives pointed in the same direction.

Economics 2.0 replaces that with one schedule and four destinations. The PEAQ Flow is now live: newly issued $PEAQ and network transaction fees distribute four ways:

30% to Trust Validator staking — paying for the attestation work that makes machine claims credible. During the transition, this allocation also continues to pay today's chain validators.

30% to the Machine Pool — funding Bonding Rewards and Growth Credits, the network's growth engine.

20% to the Treasury — grants, infrastructure, liquidity support.

20% to the Activation Token Provision Pool — sourcing the $PEAQ that bonds during activations, period by period. It doesn't accumulate.

Every unit of the flow lands staked, bonded, or credited. None of it is sold. The architecture behind the split — and why it's built this way — is covered in depth in the announcement post.

1c. Machine Migration

Economics 2.0 applies to existing machines as well as new ones. Around 1 million machines will be activated in the first week, with the remainder of the network's 3.3 million machines following over the coming weeks.

The rollout can be tracked in real time on the Machine Explorer.

The migration will happen in phases, with the peaq Foundation working alongside ecosystem projects to move existing machines to peaqOS.

What that means in numbers: of the roughly 3.3 million machines migrating, the vast majority activate on the Basic tier, bonding $0.20 worth of $PEAQ per machine, with a small group of higher-value machines on the Pro tier at $40 each. All bonded $PEAQ is removed from circulation once the migration completes — roughly 24.6 million $PEAQ at the time of writing. Because tiers are priced in dollars, the exact amount moves with the token price: the lower the price at activation, the more $PEAQ each machine bonds. The running total is visible on the Explorer.

Migration progress is tracked on the Machine Explorer: every batch, every bond, and the running totals update in real time. The initial bonds for migrated machines are funded from existing system wallets — the Machine Subsidization Pool, for example — before those wallets transition to the new structure. Section 5 has the details.

2. The Machine Explorer

Economics you can only read about are economics you have to take on faith. So phase 1 ships with an interface: the Machine Explorer — and its dedicated economics page: machines.peaq.xyz/economics

The Machine Explorer is the live view of the Machine Economy: which machines are active, what each one has bonded, how tokens move through the four allocations, and how much $PEAQ has been bonded and burned in total — updated block by block. When a machine activates, you see the bond land on its Machine ID. When one exits, you see the burn.

It's also where the new economics become legible: a dedicated economics page breaks down the flows, the pools, and the live network state — so any operator, holder, or skeptic can verify that the system works exactly the way the paper says it does.

3. Token holders

If you hold $PEAQ, here's the short version: you don't need to do anything. Your tokens, your wallet, and your access are unaffected. What changes is what the token is used for — and how it's being used.

Demand gets structural. Every machine activation bonds $PEAQ — acquired from the market when operators pay in stablecoins. Machine adoption is now token demand, visible onchain before anyone announces it.

Supply gets tighter. Bonded $PEAQ sits out of circulation for as long as machines stay active. When machines exit, half the remaining bond burns permanently. Incentives redeem as renewal discounts instead of hitting order books.

Everything is verifiable. Bonds, burns, flows, and the wallet consolidation covered in section 5 — all of it is trackable on the Machine Explorer and verifiable onchain.

And holding is only the start. You can put $PEAQ to work in the Machine Economy yourself: activate and bond machines of your own as an operator, or — once staking consolidates there — stake behind Trust Validators to back machine trust and share in the 30% of the PEAQ Flow that pays for it. Each release phases in more ways to use the token, and the Machine Explorer will show them as they go live.

Nothing about vesting or unlock schedules changes with this release — the supply-side work covered in the July 1 update continues as described there. And for the deeper dive on what the new economics mean for the token, the announcement post has a dedicated section.

4. Stakers and node operators

The message from the announcement blog stands unchanged.

Today: nothing changes. Staking continues exactly as it does now. Your staked $PEAQ keeps earning as before, and node operations continue as normal. No action is needed from you with this release.

What's ahead. As Economics 2.0 rolls out, public staking consolidates into Trust Validation — where staked $PEAQ backs real-world machine trust alongside securing the network. Node operators remain essential to running peaq; Trust Validation expands what staked capital does.

Validator rewards under the new flow. Under the PEAQ Flow, validator staking receives 30% of emissions, compared with 40% under the previous model — a quarter less flowing to the validator pool overall. Per validator, however, rewards stay where they are: as part of the migration, inactive validators are being retired, reducing the active set by at least 25%. The pool is shared among fewer, active nodes, so the reward ratio per validator is unchanged — and slightly higher if the active set shrinks further.

How the transition works. Both systems run in parallel during a transition window — nothing switches overnight. Before any migration begins, we'll publish detailed step-by-step guides and a dedicated Q&A, and announce timelines well in advance.

Until that announcement, there is nothing you need to prepare.

5. Tokenomics Adjustments: System wallet simplification and transparency improvements

As peaq Economics 2.0 goes live and as announced July 1 in our market structure update, the broader wallet structure is also being updated. This includes both system wallets and other Foundation-controlled wallets, which have historically been spread across a larger number of addresses.

These wallets are now being consolidated into a smaller and clearer structure, making balances and movements easier to track for the community, exchanges, and other stakeholders. It also allows legacy wallets created for earlier initiatives — such as launch-era community campaigns, Get Real, and completed capital contribution activities — to be retired.

System wallet migration

As part of Economics 2.0, the existing system wallets are transitioning to the new system wallet structure. The following system wallets were emptied to prepare for Economics 2.0 and moved to the Treasury Reserve Wallet; each was a partial move, and the remaining tokens will be moved by the end of September 2026 as well:

• Security Treasury: 5EYCAe5cKPAm67h3SeVgRKhZNE8fFKZwRreJo3kvGZAFjRe3
• General Treasury: 5EYCAe5ijiYfyeZ2JJCGq56LmPyNRAKzpG4QkoQkkQNB5e6Z
• DePIN Incentive Pool: 5EYCAe5cKPAmD11bPWaQjEYQ1GV7H56nqBpYt7XN2ZfKigDg
• DePIN Staking: 5EYCAe5cKPAmD15dKS4VkZXmNmuHpuBdBDF3113P6gBLRTZE
• Machine Subsidization Pool: 5EYCAe5cKPAoFioiNofJ5BLTBbhsYn7anzfPTNUi1mvrMFdv

Foundation-controlled wallet consolidation

Other Foundation-controlled wallets are also being consolidated according to their existing purpose and supply classification.

Importantly, none of these movements change the circulating supply or emission schedule. Tokens already classified as circulating are moved to circulating wallets, including the Dynamic Treasury. Non-circulating tokens, such as those held in the Community Reserve, are moved to the Treasury Reserve and remain non-circulating.

Wallets which existed before and continue to be used for treasury management:

• Treasury Reserve Wallet: 0x4b4c2aABaDA91534B217a5B70E3b43A678F88D49
• Ecosystem & Treasury Wallet: 0x46E967F90f9426823603db6765123Ba27AB983C0

New Treasury Wallet:

• Dynamic Treasury Wallet: 0x9df7202b08e68A14C3F732E1927BdA367835470E

Overview of PEAQ Token Treasury Consolidation

System wallet movements

• Community Reserve (0xe0a4B8d19Fb1E80b4EFbBd30Bd3D3a4158Db9d8F) → Treasury Reserve Wallet. 1 transfer, 186,354,097 PEAQ in total (transaction).
• Security Reserve (0x355A1EC71E87777Cf77e3181f96A2825073f1913) → Treasury Reserve Wallet. 1 transfer, 46,362,265 PEAQ in total (transaction).
• Expansion Reserve (0x7B38b140d02635f5a983E14467D70e7fE829e455) — no tokens moved as part of the consolidation; the remaining tokens will be moved to the Dynamic Treasury Wallet by the end of September 2026.

Foundation-controlled address movements

• Get Real Campaign (0xB22E7ebC96b27d9074F6724D5300f964691FA097) → Dynamic Treasury Wallet. 9 transfers, 92,435,755 PEAQ in total (transactions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
• Early Adopters Campaign (0x1A4ec1fd72Eb76DBe6109038a93f456c7cc1bf5b) → Dynamic Treasury Wallet. 7 transfers, 83,880,965 PEAQ in total (transactions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
• Initial Community Campaign (0x9B921f6238900178b9bD1d90F0048B6f2Ed9C0e0) → Dynamic Treasury Wallet. 2 transfers, 19,862,057 PEAQ in total (transactions: 1, 2). This has been a partial move and the remaining tokens will be moved by the end of September 2026 as well.
• Market Making (0x04B541b1036dB09eE3900c1d713B4d38Ca97943F) → Ecosystem & Treasury Wallet. 1 transfer, 2,743,447 PEAQ in total (transaction).
• Capital Contributions (0x45ADD7eEcF69bB6dE394cDaF317aCA96a4F3b33B) → Dynamic Treasury Wallet. 1 transfer, 8,200 PEAQ in total (transaction).

Token movements and initial machine bonding

Some of the tokens moved as part of this process will be used for the initial migration and bonding of existing machines under Economics 2.0. This uses existing system tokens to establish the initial machine bonds rather than introducing additional tokens into circulation.

Governance remains unchanged

These wallet movements do not change peaq's governance structure, governance schedule, or previously communicated governance roadmap. Governance continues according to the existing framework, with the relevant wallets and balances reflected through peaq's transparency resources.

The governance framework described in our Network-Level Incentive Pools post from December 9, 2025 — the wallet council and the transparency reporting — continues to apply, and extends to the updated system wallets and the Transparency Page. With Economics 2.0, most system wallets are now automated: allocations move according to the PEAQ Flow, without manual intervention.

6. Next Phases

Phase 1 is the foundation — and it already puts the network's installed base to work.

Not everything in the paper ships in phase 1 — by design. Rolling out next, in the order the network needs them: the Machine Credit Score; cross-chain machine relocation going live, so machines move between chains with identity and standing intact; adaptive tuning of the Bonding Rewards / Growth Credits split, driven by real redemption data; and KYB/KYC attestation for enterprise-grade compliance, planned further out.

7. Set the machines free

Economics 2.0 links machine adoption directly to demand for $PEAQ. Every activation bonds $PEAQ, every renewal adds to the bond, and every exit burns half of the remaining amount.

These mechanics are now live on mainnet and visible through the Machine Explorer under → machines.peaq.xyz.

Read the full Economics 2.0 paper for the architecture behind it here.

Activate new machines → docs.peaq.xyz/quickstart