On August 5, 2021, Ethereum implemented the London hard fork at block height 12,965,000, introducing a groundbreaking fee-burning mechanism via EIP-1559. Now, 1,438 days later, data from ultrasound.money reveals that the network has permanently removed over 4.6 million ETH from circulation, worth roughly $13.57 billion at current exchange rates. Yet even with this massive incineration, Ether's supply continues to grow, recording a median annual inflation rate of 0.801% since the upgrade.
How the Burn Mechanism Works
Under EIP-1559, every transaction on Ethereum now includes a base fee that is destroyed instead of being paid to miners or validators. This means every block contributes to a steady stream of burned ETH. On average, 2.22 ETH are incinerated every minute across all activities. The mechanism was designed to offset issuance and potentially make Ether deflationary during periods of high network usage.
Top Burn Contributors
Analysis of the burned supply by category shows that ordinary ETH transfers lead the destruction with 375,959 ETH. The NFT marketplace OpenSea follows closely, having burned 230,051.12 ETH through trade settlements. Decentralized exchange Uniswap V2 has torched 227,044.95 ETH, while stablecoin Tether (USDT) transfers have consumed 210,070.05 ETH. Together, these four categories account for over 80% of all ETH burned since London.
Inflation Dynamics: Ethereum vs. Bitcoin
Despite the burn, Ethereum remains inflationary. Its 0.801% annual rate is nearly identical to Bitcoin's current 0.809% issuance rate. However, over the same 1,438-day period, Bitcoin's average inflation was higher at 1.476% due to its pre-halving block rewards. For context, had Ethereum maintained proof-of-work (PoW), its inflation rate would have been 3.394% — over four times the current level.
Since the London hard fork, Ethereum has minted approximately 3.695 million new ETH (worth $10.89 billion), while Bitcoin miners produced 1.092 million BTC valued at a staggering $129.92 billion over the same span. This highlights Ethereum's unique monetary policy: a dynamic balance between issuance and destruction that is unlike any other major cryptocurrency.
In the past seven days (as of July 14, 2025), Ethereum's inflation rate dipped to 0.723%, with 16,745.66 ETH newly created. Analysts continue to monitor whether growing Layer-2 adoption and increased DeFi activity will further tilt the balance toward deflation. While 0.801% is technically inflationary, it represents a dramatic improvement from the PoW era and keeps Ethereum on a path where future supply dynamics remain a focal point for investors.