The Internet Computer project DFINITY Foundation stirred the market on January 14th. They released a tokenomics white paper called "Mission 70," which has a seemingly crazy goal: to cut ICP's inflation rate by 70% by the end of 2026.

Once this news broke, the price of ICP skyrocketed. The single-day increase once exceeded 30%, making it the most eye-catching in the entire market. But this isn't mindless speculation; honestly, it reflects the market's re-evaluation of the Internet Computer's fundamentals.

For an ambitious project like DFINITY aiming to "rebuild the internet," this white paper is more than just a tweak to the economic model. It’s like a watershed—an attempt to perform an "economic surgery" to transform from a "money-burning infrastructure" into a "self-sustaining value engine." It's no small feat, but if successful, it could truly change the game.

How did it go from subsidy-driven to a deflationary cycle step by step?

Founder Dominic Williams personally authored this white paper. Its style is completely different from typical project updates, more like an announcement of a "fiscal austerity plan" to all token holders.

The core idea is straightforward: by "reducing supply" and "increasing demand," the project aims to lower the annual new issuance of ICP—also known as the nominal inflation rate—by 70% or more before 2026. The ultimate goal is to shift ICP from inflation to deflation.

Currently, ICP's annualized inflation rate is about 9.72%. These new supplies mainly come from two major sources: one is governance voting rewards. Participants in governance can earn rewards, which is one of the main channels pushing up the supply.