VeChain

To find out even more about this project, check out Messari's deep dive of VeChain.

What Is VeChain (VET)?

Key Insights

VeChain is a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for real-world use cases. Its architecture includes features such as multi-party gas payment (MPP), adjustable gas fees, batched transactions, and deterministic finality to support data integrity.

VeChain’s adoption strategy focuses on VeBetter, a user-oriented platform developed with Boston Consulting Group. VeBetter enables token-based activity tracking and rewards.

VeChainThor currently operates under a Proof-of-Authority consensus with 101 KYC-verified Authority Masternodes. As part of its ‘VeChain Renaissance’ roadmap, the network is moving to a Weighted Delegated Proof-of-Stake model in December 2025.

VeChain uses a dual-token model: VET for staking and governance, and VTHO for transaction fees. VTHO issuance and burn mechanisms are designed to reduce supply as network activity grows, with recent updates aiming to reinforce this dynamic.

Recent protocol upgrades, including NFT-based staking, EVM compatibility enhancements, and fee adjustments, aim to modernize the network and support decentralized governance.

Introduction

VeChainThor is a Layer-1 public blockchain purpose-built to tackle these issues. Before launching its public chain, VeChain, alongside PwC, met with various enterprise users to identify key requirements and incorporate tools based on real-world needs. Built on Ethereum’s EVM, VeChainThor introduces features such as a dual-token model for cost predictability, a low-energy consensus mechanism, and blockchain-as-a-service tools to reduce integration complexity. These design choices supported the launch of over 100 enterprise applications across sectors, including sustainability, energy, supply chains, and government services - striking partnerships with with well known clients ranging from BMW to Walmart.

VeChain’s current adoption strategy focuses on real-world adoption through VeBetterDAO (VeBetter), a platform built with Boston Consulting Group. VeBetter combines tokenized records of user actions, verifiable through AI, with a token incentive model, making everyday sustainable behavior both measurable and rewarded. Governed through a DAO structure, the platform has recorded over 20 million such actions to date, linking behavioral data with an onchain incentive system.

Founding & Background of VeChain (VET)?

VeChain was co-founded in 2015 by Sunny Lu with plans to build a blockchain for supply management solutions. The blockchain was launched in June 2016 as a private consortium chain with support from BitSE, a Chinese Blockchain-as-Service (Baas) company, and primarily focused on anti-counterfeiting and supply chain management through Near Field Communication (NFC) chips, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, and Quick Response (QR) code.

Early funding came from Fenbushi Capital, one of China’s first blockchain-focused venture firms. This support laid the financial groundwork for VeChain’s development. In 2017, the project launched an initial coin offering (ICO) that raised approximately $20 million through the sale of VEN tokens, VeChain’s original ERC-20 token. These funds were used to build out VeChain’s proprietary Layer-1 blockchain, VeChainThor, which launched in 2018.

Strategic corporate investors soon followed. In 2018, DNV, a European business assurance organisation, acquired a stake in VeChain and integrated its technology into their service offerings. Rather than relying on successive venture rounds, the project sustained itself through enterprise partnerships and its ICO reserves. In 2023, VeChain and Boston Consulting Group established a partnership under a similar premise, but with the goal of delivering a blockchain ecosystem that could solve sustainability challenges and demonstrate real-world adoption of decentralized applications.

Originally designed to solve inefficiencies in global trade for enterprise clients, VeChain’s strategy has expanded to include consumers and app users, with the Foundation driving a new frontier of adoption through VeBetter, its sustainability-focused Web3 app store. The platform builds on VeChain’s track record of real-world adoption to help deliver blockchain applications that target a broad array of sustainability-focused scenarios, from waste reduction to diet, EV charging, and exercise, as described by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

As of June 2025, the VeChain Foundation is approaching the second phase of its new technical roadmap, known as the VeChain Renaissance. This phase includes transitioning its consensus mechanism, introducing a new staking model, modifying its two-token economic structure, and adopting JSON RPC to improve interoperability. The Foundation is also adapting to regulatory developments, having established MiCAR compliance in early 2025 to support token use across the European Union. These changes reflect an effort to develop infrastructure for practical, real-world applications rather than speculative use.

VeChain Ecosystem

General

VeChain’s ecosystem focuses on application-layer tools designed to support practical use cases, particularly in sustainability. A central component is VeBetter, a Web3 ‘lifestyle’ platform for sustainability-focused decentralized applications (dApps) that reward users for actions such as exercising, adopting sustainable diets, using electric vehicles, or reducing waste. The platform is built for accessibility, with onboarding features tailored to non-crypto users.

VeBetter tokenizes user activities that contribute to sustainability but are difficult to track or monetize using traditional systems. For example, users driving electric vehicles reduce carbon emissions, which can be recorded onchain and assigned a market value. Blockchain reduces the cost of data capture, making it feasible to record and reward large volumes of low-value events.

The platform operates under a DAO structure, with weekly token allocations divided among dApps, users, and the Treasury. Treasury funds support grants, proposals, and ecosystem development based on community votes.

VeBetter takes a user-first approach, complementing VeChain’s existing enterprise and government integrations. This strategy has contributed to growth in transaction volumes and wallet activity since mainnet launch in June 2024. Two applications, Mugshot (for reducing single-use cups) and GreenCart (for more sustainable and healthy diets), each surpassed one million users in Q2 2025.

Governance also incorporates user participation, with incentives for engaging in proposal and voting processes. AI is used alongside blockchain infrastructure to help validate user actions and scale the platform, aligning with broader trends in combining AI with verifiable data systems.

Tokenomics, Staking & Rewards

Dual-Token System

VeChainThor features a dual-token system designed to align economic incentives with network usage and security. This model separates value accrual from operational utility, offering stability for enterprise use while promoting active participation through staking and governance. The two native tokens are:

VET (VeChainThor Token): The primary utility and governance token of the VeChainThor protocol. It has a fixed supply of 86.7 billion tokens and is used for staking, voting, and generating gas. It acts as governance collateral, with minimum balances required to maintain different kinds of nodes within the ecosystem.

VTHO (VeThor Token): The gas token used to pay for transactions and smart contract execution. VTHO is automatically generated by holding VET. Beginning July 1, 2025, with the introduction of the gas fee market under the Galactica Upgrade, 100% of the VTHO used in a transaction is burned.

The VeChain Renaissance upgrade, specifically the Hayabusa Stage, which is due to reach mainnet in December 2025, will deliver significant changes to VeChain’s tokenomic model. One notable example being that new VTHO will only be generated through VET staking, reducing generation of ‘idle’ VTHO, such as those generated in exchange wallets, significantly reducing its overall inflation.

Economic Incentives and Flywheel Model

VeChain’s new tokenomic design creates a cyclical feedback loop that creates value from network usage and user growth:

• Increasing dApp activity, driven by VeBetter and enterprise use cases, necessitates VTHO consumption.

• Increased VTHO scarcity and burn rate, paired with increased market demand from transaction volume growth, potentially raises its value, increasing the fundamental value of VET tokens needed to generate VTHO.

• Greater returns attract investors, users, and builders, encouraging more VET staking and network traffic.

• More staked VET increases network security and boosts governance participation.

• A secure and active network attracts more users and partners, continuing the cycle.

Staking and Reward Mechanisms

On July 1st, 2025, VeChain launched its brand new staking platform, StarGate, as the blockchain upgrades its tokenomic, staking, validation and reward mechanisms.

As part of the VeChain Renaissance Upgrade, VeChain’s validator and node model is undergoing a significant transformation. KYC will be removed, and new node tiers will be introduced to encourage greater adoption and participation. The VeChain Renaissance initiative introduces a new validator/delegator model where VET holders can participate in network security by staking and delegating collateral through NFT-based mechanisms.

Once the Hayabusa hard fork merges with VeChainThor mainnet in December 2025, validators will be rewarded with 30% of all block rewards, denominated in VTHO, while the pool of delegators delegating to a given validator are awarded the remaining 70%, distributed based on weighted staking. This system design is intended to motivate VET holders, who’ve historically earned passive VTHO rewards, to actively engage in VeChain’s economic security while advancing its decentralization.

The initiative also introduces new tiers of Economic/X-Node that offer varying rewards based on their staked amount. These include:

Dawn Node: The entry-level tier requiring 10,000 VET stake and offering a 1.0x reward multiplier.

Lightning Node: A mid-level tier requiring 50,000 VET stake and offering a 1.15x reward multiplier.

Flash Node: The highest-level tier, requiring 200,000 VET stake with a 1.3x multiplier.

Requisite stakes for existing Economic and X-Nodes range from 600,000 VET up to 15,600,000 VET, with reward multipliers varying by tier and type. X-Nodes generate more rewards than their Economic Node counterparts and have additional privileges within the ecosystem.

Details on VET collateral for differing node tiers can be found here. Please note that the current node system is being upgraded as part of VeChain Renaissance, and, while staking quantities remain the same, other attributes (such as the 5 billion VET collateral reserved for X-Nodes) are changing.

According to community-created staking calculators, VeChainStats and Redeno, staking rewards will grow from an estimated 1-2.5% to as high as 9.1% under some scenarios, increasing the attractiveness of staking on VeChainThor.

How Many VeChain (VET) Coins Are There In Circulation?

VET has a maximum fixed supply of 86,712,634,466 tokens. VTHO supply depends on factors such as generation rate and burn rate, with an unfixed total.

At the time of writing (07/07/2025) - All tokens are reported to be in circulation according to VeChainStats

VeChain's Web3 App Platform - VeBetter.com

in June 2024, VeChain launched VeBetter - a, X-2-Earn dApp ecosystem that rewards tokenized activites relating to sustainability in some form. From diet to driving EVs, health, or reducing waste - dApps are exected to align with one of the UN's 17 SDGs in some form.

The Foundation launched the initiative in close consultation with Boston Consulting Group, launched with the publication of VeChain's Web3 for Better whitepaper, published in March 2023.

How does VeBetter Work?

VeBetter operates on two primary tokens: B3TR, the incentive token used to reward users for sustainable behavior, and VOT3, the governance token used to allocate voting weight on the platform's governance aspects.

The recent introduction of the Stella Pay Visa Card opens the ecosystem further, allowing users to spend rewards at over 130 million vendors worldwide. Notably, two applications (Mugshot, GreenCart), recently hit 1 million users each

Notable dApps in the VeBetter ecosystem include:

GreenCart: A consumer-facing application that rewards sustainable, healthy grocery shopping choices. Users upload receipts from eligible retailers and earn B3TR tokens for actions such as buying fresh or organic produce.

Mugshot: An application that issues B3TR tokens to users who opt for reusable mugs instead of disposable ones when consuming coffee or tea. Mugshot records these choices as onchain actions, aiming to reduce reliance on single-use cups.

Cleanify: An app for organizing, joining, and recording environmental cleanup activities. Participants who complete verified cleanups receive B3TR tokens, with data logged onchain including types and weight of collected waste. The app has been actively used in Japan and South Korea.

Green Commuter: A decentralized Web3 app that promotes sustainable commuting by tracking eco-friendly travel. The app quantifies carbon savings from walking, running, and cycling, rewarding users in B3TR.

EVearn: An app that rewards users for driving and charging Tesla Electric Vehicles. Users can log in directly to their cars using their Tesla accounts, thanks to API integrations with Tesla’s open OS. Additional brands of vehicles are expected to be added in the coming months.

Build Your Body (BYB): An exercise and wellbeing app, co-branded by the UFC, that champions a ‘workout-2-earn’ philosophy. The app debuted at UFC 317, gaining exposure across the UFC’s 900 million global viewership.

Together, these applications, among others, form the backbone of the VeBetter ecosystem’s overarching mission: to gamify sustainability and expand real-world impact through tokenized incentive systems and mainstream adoption.

VeWorld Wallet

VeWorld is the ecosystem’s most popular wallet, developed and maintained by VeChain Foundation. It is the successor to the original VeChain wallet, VeChainThor, which launched in June 2018. VeWorld is VeChain’s designated ‘Super-App’ and portal into the VeChain ecosystem. With it, users can manage digital assets, including fungible and non-fungible tokens, as well as access VeBetter and its many applications.

The wallet supports functions such as social logins, powered by Privy, and is compatible with Ledger hardware wallets, increasing user options around digital asset security.

To date, VeWorld has had 4.22 million transactions across platforms and OS.

Where Can You Buy VeChain (VET)?

VET is a freely-tradable token available on major exchanges, while markets also exist for VTHO.

VET had major markets on Binance and Huobi Global among other platforms, with pairs for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and fiat currencies.

If you’re new to cryptocurrency and want to know how to buy Bitcoin (BTC) or any other token, you can read more here.