Definition ∞ Long-term rewards are incentives or financial gains accrued over an extended period for participating in a blockchain network or digital asset protocol. These rewards often encourage sustained engagement, such as staking cryptocurrencies or providing liquidity. They aim to align participant interests with the protocol’s enduring success. These incentives promote consistent network contributions.
Context ∞ Many decentralized finance and proof-of-stake protocols utilize long-term rewards to foster network stability and decentralization. Discussions frequently revolve around the optimal design of these reward structures. The goal is to balance participant incentives with tokenomics and prevent excessive inflation or concentration of power.