VeChain (VET)

What VeChain is

VeChain runs a public blockchain, VeChainThor, on a two-token design: VET carries value and VTHO pays for using the chain. VeChain's documentation describes VET as "a value-transfer medium (utility token)" and VTHO as "the cost of using the VeChainThor blockchain resources (transaction/gas token)" (source: VeChain documentation, dual-token economic model, read September 2026).

The point of splitting the two is that the cost of sending a transaction stops tracking the market price of the asset you hold. A business paying for chain usage buys and burns VTHO; a holder of VET is not forced to spend the thing whose value they hold in order to move it. VeChain's documentation lists four roles for VET: medium of exchange, store of value, utility token, and governance mechanism.

For where to buy VeChain from your country or state, see the availability tables on this site and the venues listed at Exchanges.

How it works

VeChainThor uses Proof of Authority, which VeChain's documentation frames as a deliberate middle position, "neither a total centralization nor a total decentralization." Blocks are produced by Authority Masternodes, described as "a fixed number of known validators" authorized by the steering committee of the VeChain Foundation. Becoming one requires passing a kyc procedure and meeting minimum requirements the Foundation sets, so the validator set is identified rather than anonymous.

That is the trade the design makes explicitly. A permissioned validator set gives up open participation and gets predictable block production and known accountability in return, which is the property enterprise users of the chain are buying. Blocks arrive on a 10-second target, written in the documentation as Δ = 10.

Forks are resolved by an Accumulated Witness Number rather than by chain length. The documentation states the rule plainly: the network selects "the branch with the larger AWN as the trunk." Because each block carries a witness contribution from the authority that produced it, the branch backed by more distinct authorities wins, rather than the branch that happens to be longer.

Fees follow a two-part structure familiar from other chains. VeChain's documentation describes a base fee "which gets burned" and a priority fee "that goes to the Validator who proposed the block." Both are paid in VTHO, so all transaction demand is demand for VTHO, and the base-fee portion permanently removes it from supply.

VTHO is not airdropped or mined. It is generated as a function of staked VET, under a formula the documentation gives as VTHO_gen = 1200 · 64 · √(VET_staked) and attributes to VIP-251. The documentation works the example: with 2.525 billion VET staked, the network generates approximately 3.86 billion VTHO annually. The square root matters more than the constants, because it means generation grows more slowly than the stake behind it, so doubling the staked VET does not double VTHO issuance.

The documentation states the purpose of burning VTHO in three parts: to regulate circulating supply, to keep VTHO's value stable enough that transaction costs stay predictable, and to let network parameters be adjusted as adoption changes.

Supply and tokenomics

VET has a fixed cap and no issuance. VeChain's documentation states a total supply of 86,712,634,466 VET and says no new tokens will be created (source: VeChain documentation, VET page, read September 2026). The token carries 18 decimal places, so the smallest unit is 10^-18 VET.

The consequence of a hard cap on VET plus uncapped VTHO generation is that the two tokens answer different questions. VET's supply is settled and cannot be inflated. VTHO's supply floats with how much VET is staked and how much of it gets burned by usage, which is the variable the documentation says the design is meant to regulate.

History

VeChain's public positioning has consistently been supply chain and enterprise data rather than open defi. The choices in the protocol follow from that: a permissioned validator set that a business can name, a fee token whose price is decoupled from the asset's, and a governance structure with a steering committee rather than pure token voting.

VIP-251 is the change that reshaped VTHO. Generation moved to the staking-based square-root formula documented above, which links new VTHO to committed VET rather than to passive holdings, and the fee model moved to a burned base fee plus a validator priority fee. Both changes push in the same direction: make transaction costs predictable and tie the supply of the gas token to the network's own activity.

Risks and what to watch

Governance concentration follows directly from that. A steering committee that authorizes validators is a different security model from a chain where anyone can stake into the validator set, and it is the first thing to examine rather than the last.

VTHO economics are the second thing to watch. Generation depends on staked VET and burn depends on usage, so a chain with low transaction volume and high staking generates VTHO faster than it destroys it. VeChain's documentation names supply regulation as a purpose of the burn, which is an intention rather than a guaranteed balance.

Holding VET does not by itself produce VTHO under the VIP-251 formula; the formula is written on staked VET. Anyone expecting VTHO from an exchange balance should confirm with that venue how, or whether, it stakes on a customer's behalf.

Finally, the enterprise use cases VeChain targets are largely off-chain relationships settled on-chain. Their value depends on customers continuing to use the network, which is a commercial question rather than a protocol one.

Frequently asked questions

Why does VeChain have two tokens?

To separate value from cost. VET is the value-transfer asset with a fixed supply; VTHO pays for transactions and is burned in part when it does. That keeps the price of using the chain independent of the market price of the asset a holder owns.

What is VeChain's total supply?

VeChain's documentation states 86,712,634,466 VET, fixed, with no new tokens to be created. VTHO, by contrast, has no cap and is generated from staked VET.

How is VTHO created?

Under VIP-251, by the formula 1200 · 64 · √(VET staked). VeChain's documentation works the example that 2.525 billion VET staked generates roughly 3.86 billion VTHO a year. Because the relationship is a square root, generation grows more slowly than the stake behind it.

Who produces VeChain blocks?

Authority Masternodes, a fixed number of known validators authorized by the VeChain Foundation's steering committee after a KYC procedure. Blocks target 10 seconds, and forks resolve to the branch with the larger Accumulated Witness Number.

Where can you buy VeChain?

Availability depends on your country or US state. See where to buy VeChain for the exchanges serving your jurisdiction, and Exchanges to compare fees, kyc requirements and payment methods.