Flow

FLOW and Flow

Flow is a proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain designed as infrastructure for applications and digital assets. FLOW is the native coin of the network. Flow’s technical economics describe it as a medium of exchange, a token used for transaction and storage fees, and an asset used by validators and delegators participating in network security.

Staking and node security

FLOW is required for validators and delegators to participate in the network. Flow uses different node roles, each contributing a distinct part of the protocol’s security model. Operators stake or deposit FLOW for a protocol-defined period, creating an economic commitment to correct operation.

Fees and issuance

Flow’s technical economics describe a target reward rate of about 5% annually under the documented model. The same documentation explains that transaction fees can offset newly issued staking rewards. A December 8, 2025 fee update introduced a condition under which sustained high throughput could make the network net deflationary because fees can cover the reward pool.

Applications and storage

FLOW is used throughout the Flow ecosystem as the native payment and network asset. The token can pay transaction and storage fees and supports application activity. Developers and users therefore interact with FLOW at the protocol layer even when an application has its own assets or user-facing payment model.

FLOW risks

FLOW is exposed to blockchain, smart-contract, validator and token-issuance risks. Its economics can change with transaction activity and governance decisions. Claims about net inflation or deflation should always be tied to the documented fee and reward conditions rather than presented as a permanent property of the token.

This page separates project documentation from live FMchart market fields. Historical tokenomics, staking rules and roadmap statements are dated where relevant, while live figures are intended to refresh independently when market data is available. Readers should use current project documentation for changes after the review date.

For FMchart readers, FLOW’s inflation and deflation discussion needs the conditions described in Flow’s technical economics. The documentation says transaction fees can offset newly issued staking rewards and describes a threshold at which the reward pool can be funded entirely by fees. That is different from saying that FLOW is always deflationary. Live price, market capitalization, rank and supply are market fields and can change independently of the network’s reward model. FMchart’s composite historical series also depends on exchange coverage and can start after Flow’s launch. Node staking and fee mechanics may evolve through protocol updates, so dated technical pages should be revisited before treating a parameter as permanent. This page therefore explains the economic mechanism while avoiding a simple inflationary or deflationary label that ignores the network conditions described by Flow itself.