Glossary
Emissions
Newly minted tokens that a protocol distributes to users, liquidity providers, or stakers — the supply-side counterpart of tokenomics.
Emissions are the rate at which a protocol mints and hands out new tokens. Targets range from liquidity providers (Curve's CRV emissions to gauges), to validators (Ethereum's issuance), to ecosystem grants, to airdrops.
Emissions are how a protocol bootstraps participation: pay users in tokens before fees can cover the cost. They are also the single largest source of sell pressure on a token, which is why reading the emissions schedule is as important as reading the unlock schedule when evaluating tokenomics.