Money Flow: How ELA Is Created and Distributed
ELA is the native asset of the Elastos main chain. Understanding how it is created, how much exists, and where each block's reward goes helps you see how the network pays for security, governance, and ongoing development.
Supply, Inflation, and Halving
At genesis (Dec 2017), 33 million ELA were created. On July 30, 2020, 13 million ELA were burned through a community governance vote, resetting the effective circulating supply to ~20M and establishing a hard cap of 28,219,999 ELA.
New ELA enters circulation with each block (~2 minute block time). The block reward halves every 1,051,200 blocks (~4 years). The current reward is 0.761 ELA per block (~1% annual inflation). After the 3rd halving (~Dec 2029), it drops to 0.381 ELA. All new ELA will be mined by approximately 2105.
For the complete halving schedule and countdown, see ELA Halving.
Units: 100,000,000 sela = 1 ELA. Fees and RPC amounts are often expressed in sela.
How Each Block's Reward Is Split
Every block reward is divided into three fixed shares:
| Share | Portion | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Mining | 35% | AuxPoW miners (merged with Bitcoin) |
| Consensus | 35% | BPoS validators (25%) and voters with pledged stake (75%) |
| Treasury | 30% | Elastos DAO for ecosystem funding |
Think of each block as a small payroll: one slice for proof-of-work security, one for the elected validator set, and one for collective ecosystem funding.
Fees, Maturity, and Cross-Chain Costs
- Minimum transaction fee: 100 sela per kilobyte (0.000001 ELA/KB). Fees go to the miner who includes the transaction.
- Cross-chain fee: 10,000 sela per cross-chain output (0.0001 ELA).
- Coinbase maturity: Block reward outputs must wait 100 blocks before they can be spent.
Underpriced transactions may not be included promptly. Wallets and services should use at least the minimum fee.
Special Addresses
Protocol-defined addresses that appear on-chain:
| Label | Address |
|---|---|
| Foundation | 8VYXVxKKSAxkmRrfmGpQR2Kc66XhG6m3ta |
| Legacy CRC reward | 8ZZLWQUDSbjWUn8sEdxEFJsZiRFpzg53rJ |
| Burn | ELANULLXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXYvs3rr |
| CR Assets | CRASSETSXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX2qDX5J |
| CR Expenses | CREXPENSESXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX4UdT6b |
| Stake Pool | STAKEPooLXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXpP1PQ2 |
| Stake Reward | STAKEREWARDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXFD5SHU |
BPoS (Bonded Proof of Stake)
At block height 1,405,000, BPoS activated — a bonded voting model that replaced the older DPoS v1 mechanics. End-user rewards require voting (pledging stake to a node), not merely locking ELA.
Who Runs the Infrastructure?
Elastos has no single company running the blockchain. Different roles are filled by different participants:
| Component | Who runs it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Main chain nodes | Miners, exchanges, validators, hobbyists | Full nodes enforce consensus rules |
| BPoS validators | Elected validators with stake at risk | Sign blocks; two-thirds supermajority required |
| ESC / EID nodes | 12 Elastos Council members (full supernode stack) | Run PBFT consensus for sidechains |
| Arbiter bridge | 12 Elastos Council members | Coordinates cross-chain deposits/withdrawals |
| Hive storage | Anyone; users may self-host | Opt-in decentralized storage |
| Carrier bootstrap | Community bootstrap nodes | Peer discovery; separate from blockchain consensus |
| Elastos DAO | 12 elected council members + secretariat | Governance and treasury, funded by the 30% block reward |
| Essentials wallet | Core developers | Open-source mobile wallet |
The 12 Elastos Council members run the full supernode stack (ELA + sidechains + oracles + arbiter), making them the critical operators for cross-chain consensus. Community BPoS validators (~70; see nodes.elastos.net) run ELA main chain nodes. All validators are elected and replaceable through on-chain processes.
ELA Token Types
ELA exists natively on multiple Elastos chains and as a wrapped token on Ethereum. All versions represent the same underlying asset at a 1:1 ratio, bridgeable through the Elastos cross-chain mechanism or third-party bridges.
| Blockchain | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Elastos Main Chain | Native asset | UTXO-model chain. ELA is used for transaction fees, BPoS staking, validator registration, and governance participation. Secured by Bitcoin via merge-mining. |
| Elastos Smart Chain (ESC) | Native asset | EVM-compatible chain (Chain ID 20). ELA pays gas for smart contract execution — DeFi, NFTs, and dApps deploy here. |
| Elastos Identity Chain (EID) | Native asset | EVM-compatible chain (Chain ID 22). ELA pays gas for DID operations — publishing identities, updating credentials. |
| Ethereum | ERC-20 token | Wrapped ELA bridged from ESC to Ethereum. Contract: 0xe6fd75ff38Adca4B97FBCD938c86b98772431867 |
Check which chain your exchange or wallet supports before depositing. Main chain ELA uses UTXO addresses starting with E; ESC and EID use Ethereum-style 0x addresses. Sending to the wrong chain type will result in lost funds. See the wallets page for supported chains per wallet.
Further Reading
- Staking Guide — how to stake ELA and vote for validators
- Cross-Chain Bridge — how ELA moves between chains
- Treasury & Governance — how the 30% treasury is spent