Background: The London Hard Fork and EIP-1559
Since the Ethereum network activated the London hard fork on August 5, 2021, block height 12,965,000, EIP-1559 has permanently removed a portion of transaction fees (gas) from circulation. Over the span of 1,438 days, data from ultrasound.money reveals that more than 4.6 million ether have been burned, representing approximately $13.57 billion in value at current ETH/USD rates. This equates to an average destruction rate of 2.22 ETH every minute.
Burn Breakdown: Where Does the Burn Come From?
The top contributors to Ethereum's burn include regular ETH transfers, which have torched 375,959 ETH; the NFT marketplace OpenSea, which burned 230,051.12 ETH; Uniswap V2, a decentralized exchange, which consumed 227,044.95 ETH; and USDT stablecoin transactions, which destroyed 210,070.05 ETH. These four categories alone account for a significant portion of the total burn volume.
Inflation Rate Comparison: 0.801% vs Bitcoin’s 0.809%
Despite the massive burn, Ethereum’s supply continues to grow. The median annualized issuance rate since the London upgrade stands at 0.801%, nearly identical to Bitcoin's current rate of 0.809% (per Santiment). Looking at a seven-day window, Ethereum’s inflation rate drops to 0.723%, with 16,745.66 ETH newly minted. Crucially, if Ethereum had retained proof-of-work (PoW) instead of transitioning to proof-of-stake, its annual inflation would have been 3.394% — over four times higher than the current rate.
Issuance Comparison: ETH vs. BTC Since London
Over the same 1,438-day period, Ethereum has minted 3,695,537 ETH, adding roughly $10.89 billion in value. In contrast, Bitcoin miners have generated 1,092,150 BTC (including the 2024 halving event), representing a staggering $129.92 billion in newly issued coins. While both networks now exhibit similar annual inflation percentages, the absolute dollar value of Bitcoin issuance dwarfs that of Ethereum due to Bitcoin’s higher market price and larger block rewards.
Market Impact and Outlook
EIP-1559 introduced a deflationary mechanism unique among major blockchains, yet Ethereum remains net inflationary — issuance still outpaces burn. The balance between these forces is closely watched by analysts. Factors such as network activity, Layer-2 scaling adoption, and gas fee dynamics will continue to shape Ethereum’s monetary policy. Whether this model ultimately supports a higher valuation for ETH depends on how demand evolves relative to supply growth.