Celestia (TIA)

Tokenomics & Utility

What TIA does

TIA has three core roles. Developers pay fees in TIA when they submit blobs to Celestia. Validators stake TIA to participate in the proof-of-stake network, and holders can delegate tokens to validators. TIA holders can also take part in governance over certain network settings and the community pool, which receives a share of block rewards for ecosystem initiatives. A rollup may choose to use TIA within its own application, though each rollup decides its own design. (docs.celestia.org)

Supply and distribution

Celestia began with one billion TIA at genesis. The initial allocation assigned 20% to public distribution and future initiatives, 26.79% to research and ecosystem work, 35.57% to early backers across two categories, and 17.64% to initial core contributors. These are genesis allocations, rather than a measure of how many tokens are held by each group today. The categories had different unlock schedules, and staking rewards add newly issued TIA to supply. (docs.celestia.org)

TIA’s issuance rules have changed through network upgrades. Inflation began at 8% annually. A July 2025 upgrade lowered the rate to about 5%, and a November 2025 upgrade lowered it to about 2.5%. Under the schedule described in Celestia’s documentation, the rate decreases over time toward a 1.5% annual floor. Governance and upgrades are therefore part of understanding the token’s economic model, alongside its original distribution. (docs.celestia.org)