What are $TIA Tokens?

TIA tokens serve as the native cryptocurrency of the Celestia network, vital for its functionality. Celestia, a modular blockchain that decouples consensus from data availability, allows developers to build scalable applications without needing to create new blockchains.
$TIA tokens facilitate governance, staking, and network security, promoting a decentralized and efficient blockchain ecosystem.

Key Metric of The $TIA Token

  • Token name: Celestia
  • Ticker: TIA
  • Blockchain: Celestia
  • Token Type: Utility & Governance
  • Token Supply: 1,000,000,000 TIA

$TIA Token Allocation and Unlocks

Token Allocation

Celestia will have a total supply of 1,000,000,000 TIA at genesis, split across five categories described in the chart and table below.

CategoryAllocation (%)
R&D & Ecosystem26.80%
Public Allocation20.00%
Early Backers: Series A&B19.70%
Initial Core Contributors17.60%
Early Backers: Seed15.90%

Unlock schedule by category

Celestia’s 1 billion TIA supply at genesis will be subject to several different unlock schedules. All tokens, locked or unlocked, may be staked, but staking rewards are unlocked upon receipt and will add to the circulating supply.

CategoryUnlock Schedule
Public AllocationFully unlocked at launch.
R&D & Ecosystem25% unlocked at launch, remaining 75% unlocks continuously from year 1 to year 4.
Initial Core Contributors33.33% unlocked at year 1, remaining 66.67% unlocks continuously from year 1 to year 3.
Early Backers: Seed33.33% unlocked at year 1, remaining 66.67% unlocks continuously from year 1 to year 2.
Early Backers: Series A&B33.33% unlocked at year 1, remaining 66.67% unlocks continuously from year 1 to year 2.

Note: Due to 2024 being a leap year, the yearly unlock intervals will occur on October 30th of each year.

Inflation

TIA inflation starts at 8% annually and decreases by 10% each year until reaching the long-term issuance rate of 1.5%.

Inflation Calculation

  • The annual provisions for inflation are based on the total supply of TIA at the beginning of each year.
  • To determine how many TIA tokens to issue per block, Celestia uses block timestamps rather than block height.
  • This approach prevents actual issuance from exceeding the target due to variations in block times.

$TIA Token Use Cases

1. Paying for Data Availability

Celestia offers a dedicated data storage layer for rollups, allowing them to securely publish transaction data.

  • Developers use $TIA tokens to pay for data availability.
  • This ensures rollup transactions remain accessible and verifiable without overloading the main blockchain.

2. Bootstrapping New Rollups

Developers can use $TIA as a gas token to power their rollups, similar to how Ethereum-based rollups rely on ETH.
Benefits:

  • Launch projects without issuing a new token.
  • Standardized economic model, reducing complexity.
  • Seamless integration with Celestia’s scalable infrastructure.

3. Securing the Network Through Proof-of-Stake (PoS)

Celestia operates using a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism for network security.

  • Users stake $TIA to participate in securing the network.
  • Validators verify transactions and maintain blockchain consensus.
  • Stakers earn rewards in $TIA, incentivizing long-term participation.

4. Decentralized Governance with TIA

$TIA holders have governance rights to influence key network decisions.
Governance mechanisms include:

  • Voting on protocol upgrades and policy changes.
  • Managing the Community Pool for ecosystem development.
  • Submitting proposals to shape Celestia’s future.

How to Buy $TIA?

$TIA is available on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges:

Centralized Exchanges (CEXs):

  • KuCoin, Kraken, OKX, Bybit, Gate.io, MEXC.

Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs):

  • Various DEXs supporting Celestia-based tokens. ”