What is VeChain (VET)? The supply-chain blockchain where only staking earns VTHO

VeChain is a public blockchain used by companies mainly to trace goods through supply chains. The network is called VeChainThor and runs on two tokens: VeChain (VET) is the store of value that you trade and stake. VeThor (VTHO) pays the fees for transactions and smart contracts. Since the Hayabusa upgrade in December 2025, new VTHO is only created for VET that is staked. If you simply hold VET in a wallet, you no longer receive anything extra.

On November 3, 2026, one VET cost around €0.0049. Total market capitalisation stood at roughly €425 million, which means VeChain is no longer among the hundred largest cryptocurrencies. VET is available on many large trading venues; our comparison of the best crypto exchanges gives an overview of fees and licences. This profile explains how VeChain works technically, what the two-token model is meant to achieve and what changed with the upgrades of 2025 and 2026.

VeChain at a glance: VET, VTHO and the key figures in November 2026

• The supply of VET is fixed at 86,712,634,466 units. No new VET is ever created.
• VTHO has no cap. It is created with every new block, and part of every fee is burned.
• A block is produced on average every ten seconds.
• Since Hayabusa in December 2025, VeChainThor runs on delegated proof of stake. Only validators and delegators who stake VET still receive VTHO.
• The Interstellar upgrade on September 16, 2026 adopted eleven features from the Ethereum upgrades Cancun, Prague and Osaka.
• At the start of November the VET price was around 61 percent below its level a year earlier; in the past 30 days alone it fell by more than a third.

VeChainThor explained: what the supply-chain blockchain was built for

VeChain was founded in China in 2015. Founder Sunny Lu came from IT management at a luxury goods group and wanted to document the origin of goods in a tamper-proof way. The idea: a product receives a chip, an NFC sticker or a QR code. Every station on the way from manufacturer to customer writes an entry to the blockchain. At the end, the buyer can check where the goods came from and who handled them along the way. Typical uses are food, wine, luxury goods and spare parts.

VeChain's own network, VeChainThor, launched in the summer of 2018. Until then VeChain had been a token on Ethereum. The project is backed by the VeChain Foundation, based in Singapore. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, block production long rested with a fixed group of known operators, the Authority Masternodes. This method is called proof of authority: it is not computing power or stake that decides who builds blocks, but a verified identity. For companies this was a selling point, because the network ran predictably and fast. Critics saw it as too centralised.

Besides the supply chain, a second pillar has emerged: applications around sustainability. Users receive rewards there when they can prove environmentally friendly behaviour, such as using reusable packaging or cycling. Since then the network has marketed itself as a blockchain for business and for sustainable behaviour at the same time.

Two-token model: why VeChain uses VET and VTHO

The two-token model separates the value of a network from the cost of using it. On Ethereum you pay fees in ether. If the ether price rises, every transaction becomes more expensive in euros, even though the work done for the network has not changed. For companies that record millions of products, this is hard to budget for. According to the official VTHO documentation, VeChain solves this with a dedicated fee token: VET carries the value, VTHO pays for the computing work.

The thinking behind it: if the VET price fluctuates, fees in VTHO remain largely unaffected. A company can acquire VTHO in advance or generate it through its own staking and so keep its costs predictable. For you as an investor this means that a bet on VeChain usually means buying VET. VTHO is more an operating resource than an investment; on November 3 its price was less than a tenth of a cent.

VTHO and gas fees: how VeChain burns part of every fee

Since the Galactica upgrade, every fee on VeChainThor consists of two parts. The base fee is set by the protocol itself; it rises when the network is busy and falls when it is quiet. This part is burned, meaning permanently removed from circulation. The priority fee is a voluntary tip that goes to the validator building the block. The mechanism is modelled on the fee market that Ethereum introduced in 2021 with EIP-1559.

This gives VTHO its supply logic: new VTHO is created with every block, and part of it is destroyed with every transaction. Whether supply grows or shrinks therefore depends on how heavily the network is used. There is no fixed cap. The opposite applies to VET: its supply has been fixed since launch and does not change through fees.

Hayabusa and StarGate: VeChain switches to delegated proof of stake

With Hayabusa, VeChain changed its consensus mechanism in December 2025. Delegated proof of stake means that VET holders can stake their coins and entrust them to a validator, who then builds blocks. The more VET stands behind a validator, the more often it gets its turn. The validator set is therefore no longer fixed but shifts with the capital staked. According to the VeChain Foundation's announcement on Hayabusa, VTHO generation has since been tied to staked VET and is distributed to validators and delegators through block rewards.

For holders this is the most important change since the blockchain launched. Before Hayabusa, every VET in every wallet generated VTHO automatically, without any action. Today you only receive VTHO if you stake your VET through the StarGate platform and delegate it to a validator. StarGate is VeChain's official staking interface. How other staking offers compare in terms of returns is shown in our overview of staking platforms with yields.

The Foundation justifies the step on security grounds: if all holders receive VTHO regardless of whether they contribute to the network, the incentive for validators is too weak. At the same time, less new VTHO is meant to be created, making the fee token scarcer. Whether that works depends on usage, because supply only shrinks through burned base fees.

Interstellar upgrade: VeChainThor adopts Ethereum features

On September 16, 2026 the Interstellar upgrade followed, technically the improvement proposal VIP-255. It brings eleven features from the Ethereum upgrades Cancun, Prague and Osaka into VeChainThor's virtual machine. This makes it easier for developers to port applications from Ethereum to VeChain. Interstellar changed nothing about the VET supply, VTHO generation or the staking rules. How the switchover went and why exchanges briefly paused deposits and withdrawals is described in our September article on the activation of VeChain Interstellar.

VET price in 2026: down 61 percent in twelve months

So far the upgrades have not supported the price. At around $0.0055, VET was about 61 percent below its level of a year earlier on November 3. In the preceding 30 days the coin lost a good 36 percent. Its market capitalisation of about €425 million currently ranks 119th among the largest cryptocurrencies.

Two questions are decisive for the valuation. First, whether companies actually use the blockchain on a large scale and thereby generate fees. Second, whether the new staking model locks up enough VET to reduce selling pressure. Both can be tracked in public data: in the number of transactions and in the share of VET staked. How analysts assess the further outlook and which scenarios they model is collected in our VeChain price prediction.

Buying VeChain in Germany: exchange, wallet and tax on VTHO income

The simplest way to buy VET in Germany is through a crypto exchange licensed under the European MiCA regulation. You can check whether a provider holds such a licence in the register of the European securities regulator ESMA. Make sure the exchange supports withdrawals via the VeChainThor network if you want to hold your coins yourself or stake them through StarGate. For staking you need a wallet that supports VeChain.

For tax purposes, the usual rules for crypto assets apply in Germany. If you sell VET at a profit within a year of buying it, the gain is taxable as a private disposal; after one year it is tax-free. VTHO from staking counts as income at the moment it is credited, valued at its market value in euros. Such miscellaneous income remains tax-free up to an exemption limit of €256 a year; above that, the entire amount is taxable. Staking does not extend the holding period of your VET. Details are explained in our guide to staking taxes in Germany.

VeChain (VET): since Hayabusa, new VTHO is only paid for staking

1. Choose how to buy: compare providers' fees and MiCA licences before you buy VET. Our exchange comparison shows where VeChain can be traded.
2. Consider staking: if you want to receive VTHO, you have to stake and delegate your VET. Weigh returns and lock-up periods against other staking offers compared.
3. Hold your own keys: larger holdings belong in a wallet whose keys only you know. Which devices support VeChain is shown in our hardware wallet comparison.

(As of November 3, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)