# Burning

Burned tao or alpha is destroyed but still counts as issued, so it is never emitted again.

_Source: https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/tokenomics/burning_

_Last reviewed: 2026-10-05_

Burned tao or alpha is destroyed. It still counts as issued, so the chain never emits it again.

> [!NOTE]
> **Recycled vs. burned**
>
> **Recycled** tao/alpha is subtracted from issuance. It is gone from circulation, and the chain can emit it again. See [Recycling](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/tokenomics/recycling).
>
> **Burned** tao/alpha is destroyed without reducing issuance. It is never emitted again.
>
> On Bittensor, most things called a "burn" are recycles. The registration "burn" cost and transaction fees are both recycled.

## Tao

Tao is burned by sending it to the chain's burn address. Total issuance does not change. This is rare. It happens only to a swap's block-author fee when the block has no known author.

## Alpha

Burned alpha is removed from its holder, but the subnet's alpha issuance (`SubnetAlphaOut`) does not change.

* **Subnet owner hotkey incentive**: miner emission to the owner hotkey is burned, unless the subnet's `RecycleOrBurn` setting is `Recycle`. `Burn` is the default.
* **`burn_alpha`**: any staker can burn their own alpha with this extrinsic. This does not work on root.
* **Swap fees with no block author**: an alpha-denominated swap fee is burned when the block has no known author.
* **Root validator baskets**: basket alpha that can no longer be sold, for example on a dissolved subnet, is written off by burning. The chain emits a `BasketAlphaWrittenOff` event. See [Root validator baskets](https://beta.taostats.io/docs/concepts/staking/root-validator-baskets).