Manta Network Kills Staking Program to End Token Inflation

Steady attention without excessive speculation.

The decision targets inflationary $MANTA minting, which the team said dilutes every token holder over time. At the same time, Manta is taking full control of its Layer 2 sequencer and infrastructure stack.

“Inflationary staking rewards dilute every $MANTA holder over time,” the team wrote on X. “Winding it down is the right call.”

Why Manta Is Ending Its Staking Rewards

The Manta staking sunset removes the protocol’s native delegation and restaking mechanism on Manta Pacific. That program used Symbiotic restaking and Babylon Bitcoin staking to generate fast finality proofs for the L2.

Rewards came from newly minted $MANTA tokens. In practice, that meant every reward payout increased total supply and reduced each holder’s ownership percentage. According to the official staking dashboard, roughly 28.7 million MANTA sat in the program at the time of the announcement.

The team framed the decision as a long-term tokenomics fix. Rather than continuing to print tokens for staking yield, Manta chose to eliminate the source of dilution entirely.

What the Manta Staking Sunset Means for Delegators

Delegators’ funds remain fully safe. There are no withdrawal restrictions, deadlines, or penalties for unstaking. Users can withdraw at any time through the staking dashboard.

Operators can exit the program immediately. No new rewards will generate after May 20. No forced unstaking or contract pauses have occurred yet on-chain.

The two-week notice gives participants a clear window to act, though the team stressed that urgency is not required.

Manta Moves to Self-Operate Its L2 Stack

Alongside the Manta staking sunset, the team announced it is taking “full independent ownership” of Manta Pacific’s infrastructure. That means self-operating the sequencer and underlying stack directly, rather than relying on third-party operators.

“Rather than relying on third-party operators for core network functions, we are moving to self-operate the sequencer and underlying stack directly,” the team wrote in a follow-up post.

This shift decouples Manta Pacific from the operator network that Symbiotic and Babylon powered. Going forward, security and sequencing will rely on the team’s own infrastructure instead of delegated staking.

Part of a Broader Simplification

The staking shutdown follows the Manta Atlantic deprecation announced in March 2026. That earlier move began sunsetting Manta’s original Polkadot parachain, including its bridge infrastructure.

Together, these changes signal aggressive simplification. The Manta staking sunset is just one piece of a broader pivot toward a leaner, self-operated L2.

According to DefiLlama, the Manta chain carried roughly $6.05 million in TVL as of May 6. Manta Pacific separately showed approximately $28 million in protocol TVL.

Market Reaction and Community Sentiment

$MANTA showed no material price reaction in the hours after the announcement. The token traded near $0.069 with a 2.7% gain over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

Early community reactions on X were mixed. Some users expressed skepticism, with one calling it a “scam coin” move.

No major analysts or KOLs had weighed in as of May 6. Others in the community had not yet engaged with the news.

Secondary coverage from Bitget News and Phemex News confirmed the timeline but added no new analysis. No reports from CoinDesk, The Block, or Messari had appeared yet.

What Remains Unknown

Several questions remain unanswered. Manta has not said whether a replacement incentive program will follow. The team’s reference to a “single, focused direction” lacks specifics beyond sequencer self-operation.

It is also unclear whether any forced actions will occur after May 20 for users who have not unstaked. The team has not disclosed the program’s current APY or the exact inflation rate that staking generated.

These gaps may narrow as the May 20 deadline approaches. For now, anyone affected by the Manta staking sunset should visit the official dashboard to review their positions.