Ethereum has destroyed more than 4.6 million ETH since the London hard fork introduced fee burning in August 2021, erasing an estimated $13.57 billion worth of ether at current prices. Even so, the asset’s total supply has continued to expand, with the network still running at an annualized inflation rate of 0.801%.
Fee Burning Has Removed Millions of ETH From Circulation
It has been nearly three years and 11 months since Ethereum activated the London hard fork at block 12,965,000 on Aug. 5, 2021. That upgrade changed the network’s economics by introducing a mechanism that burns part of transaction fees, permanently removing a portion of ETH from circulation whenever users interact with the chain.
According to data cited from ultrasound.money, Ethereum has now burned more than 4.6 million ETH over a span of 1,438 days. At current ETH/USD valuations, that equals roughly $13.57 billion in destroyed value. On average, the network has been burning about 2.22 ETH per minute over that period, underscoring how central transaction activity has become to Ethereum’s monetary design.
The burn has not come from a single source. Standard ETH transfers have accounted for 375,959 ETH burned so far. Among application-driven contributors, NFT marketplace OpenSea has been linked to 230,051.12 ETH in burns, while Uniswap V2 has generated 227,044.95 ETH. Transactions involving USDT have also had a major impact, contributing 210,070.05 ETH to the total simply through token movement on the network.
Despite the Burn, Ethereum Remains Inflationary
While the burn mechanism has materially reduced Ethereum’s net issuance, it has not consistently pushed the network into outright deflation. The data shows Ethereum’s median issuance rate since the London hard fork stands at 0.801%. That figure is very close to Bitcoin’s current issuance rate of 0.809%, based on the source material’s reference to Santiment data.
Shorter-term readings suggest some moderation. Over the past seven days, ultrasound.money data shows Ethereum’s issuance rate easing to 0.723%, while 16,745.66 ETH was newly minted during that same weekly window. Even so, on a cumulative basis, issuance has continued to exceed burn enough to keep supply growth positive overall.
Since Aug. 5, 2021, Ethereum has minted a total of 3,695,537 ETH, adding an estimated $10.89 billion in newly issued value to the network. This helps explain the apparent contradiction at the heart of Ethereum’s current monetary profile: enormous quantities of ETH have been burned, yet supply is still growing because new issuance continues at a steady, though much lower, pace.
A Different Monetary Model From the PoW Era
One of the more important takeaways is how much Ethereum’s inflation profile has changed compared with what it might have looked like under proof-of-work. According to the source, had Ethereum remained on PoW, its inflation rate would have been around 3.394%. By comparison, the current 0.801% rate is dramatically lower, suggesting that the network’s post-London and post-PoS economic design has meaningfully restrained supply expansion.
This reduction in issuance has become a key talking point among market analysts who closely track Ethereum’s supply mechanics. The interaction between network activity, gas costs, fee burning, and validator issuance makes Ethereum’s monetary system unusually dynamic compared with more fixed issuance models in crypto. Rather than following a simple supply schedule, Ethereum’s net supply change depends heavily on actual onchain usage.
How Ethereum Compares With Bitcoin
The source also places Ethereum’s issuance in the context of Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin’s current issuance rate is listed at 0.809%, its mean average issuance rate over the same 1,438-day period was 1.476%, noticeably higher than Ethereum’s 0.801% average since the London hard fork.
In absolute issuance terms, the difference remains large because of Bitcoin’s own supply schedule and market pricing. Over the same 1,438-day period, and including the most recent 2024 halving, Bitcoin miners generated 1,092,150 BTC, equivalent to about $129.92 billion in newly issued coins. That compares with Ethereum’s 3,695,537 ETH minted, worth about $10.89 billion based on the values cited in the source material.
The comparison highlights that Ethereum’s post-London model is not simply about becoming deflationary at all times. Instead, it is about reducing net issuance relative to historic norms while allowing supply to respond more directly to actual demand for blockspace. In periods of elevated activity, the burn can accelerate sharply. In quieter periods, issuance may dominate, leaving the asset modestly inflationary.
Why the Supply Debate Still Matters
For investors and market observers, the ongoing balance between issuance and burn remains one of the most closely watched indicators in Ethereum’s economic framework. A burn total of more than 4.6 million ETH is substantial by any standard, but the fact that supply is still expanding serves as a reminder that Ethereum’s monetary policy is conditional, not absolute.
Whether that ultimately benefits ETH valuation depends on factors the source identifies indirectly through the data itself: transaction volume, gas demand, application usage, and the continuing pace of issuance. What is clear is that Ethereum now operates with a far different monetary structure than it would have under proof-of-work, and one that remains distinct within the broader digital asset market.
In short, Ethereum has already erased billions of dollars’ worth of ETH through fee burning, yet the network has not become permanently deflationary. Instead, it sits in a narrow zone of low inflation, shaped by the constant push and pull between newly minted supply and coins permanently removed from circulation.