Secret Network minted 1.08 billion SCRT overnight, diluting supply by 75% to fund core operations as SCRT Labs prepares to end support. The move leaves future development and validator participation in the hands of the community.
Secret Network, a Cosmos-based layer 1 blockchain, minted 1.079 billion new SCRT tokens on August 21 in a dramatic move to secure its operational future. The supply increase, executed through the v1.26.0 upgrade after the community approved Proposal 365, comes as SCRT Labs-the network's main development team-prepares to end all support on September 1. The one-time mint, which expanded the total SCRT supply by roughly 75%, is intended to fund core development, infrastructure, and validator incentives as the network transitions to full community management.
Emergency Funding and Supply Dilution
The v1.26.0 upgrade was triggered at block 26,790,327, with the mint finalized as a protocol-level event rather than a standard user transaction. According to on-chain data, the network's live node reported the new software version and continued block production past block 26,806,270, confirming the upgrade's completion. The newly minted SCRT was distributed across several categories: 299 million each to foundation and core development, 178 million to an ecosystem fund, and 72 million each to advisors, research and development, and validators. Additional allocations included 43 million for builders and relayers, and 44 million for remediation efforts. Of the new supply, 308.4 million SCRT became liquid immediately, with ongoing inflation set at 5%.
Community Takes Control
Existing SCRT holders retained their absolute balances, but their share of the total supply dropped to about 25% post-mint. The network's future now depends on whether the community can organize development, infrastructure, and validator participation without SCRT Labs' involvement. The continuity plan's initial model used 361.97 million existing SCRT, representing just over a quarter of the estimated 1.44 billion post-mint supply. A subsequent on-chain response showed a live total of 1.443 billion SCRT, reflecting both the mint and ongoing inflation. The shift leaves the network's technical and governance workload in the hands of community contributors and validators.
Rejected Proposals and Precedents
Secret Network voters recently rejected Proposal 360, which would have signaled support for an Arbitrum snapshot, meaning no on-chain mandate was given for that migration. SCRT Labs had already announced its intention to end Cosmos-based L1 development regardless of the vote's outcome, but did not schedule a chain shutdown. The network's continued operation now relies on validators maintaining sufficient staking power and the community assuming technical responsibilities. This scenario echoes other recent governance-driven transitions, such as GnosisDAO's decision to sunset its own layer 1 and unlock staked tokens, as covered in EgonCoin's report on Gnosis Chain's retirement.
At the time of the upgrade, Secret Network's on-chain data showed a total SCRT supply of approximately 1.44 billion, up from a pre-mint base of around 361 million. The 1.079 billion SCRT mint represents one of the largest single-day supply increases for a major Cosmos-based network. The immediate liquidity of over 308 million SCRT and a 5% annual inflation rate set the stage for new economic dynamics, with the majority of tokens now controlled by newly established community funds and programs.
Large-scale token mints to fund protocol survival are rare among established layer 1 blockchains, but can become necessary when core development teams withdraw and no alternative funding exists. Such events can sharply dilute existing holders and shift governance power, raising questions about long-term sustainability, validator incentives, and the ability of decentralized communities to maintain complex blockchain infrastructure without centralized leadership or guaranteed funding streams.
