4.5M ETH Burned, Yet Supply Grows: Ethereum’s Deflation Dilemma

Three years after Ethereum’s London Hard Fork aimed to curb supply growth, the network remains inflationary, defying initial deflationary promises.

Ether’s Deflation Promise Continues to Remain Unmet

As of April 13, 2025, Ethereum’s net ETH supply has grown by 0.805% annually since the London Hard Fork in August 2021, with 3,477,830.85 ETH added to circulation. Despite burning 4,581,986.52 ETH via EIP1559’s fee burning mechanism—a cornerstone of the upgrade—the burn rate has failed to consistently offset new issuance.

Since August 2021, $7.3 billion worth of ethereum ( ETH) has been burned.

Bitcoin, over the same three-year, eight-month period, recorded a higher annualized inflation rate of 1.517%, though its fixed supply cap contrasts with ETH’s uncapped model. The London Hard Fork, implemented in August 2021, introduced ETH burns to counterbalance block rewards. However, upgrades like Dencun in 2024 reduced transaction fees, slashing burn rates.

Lower network activity at times further limited fee revenue, allowing issuance to exceed burns. Ethereum’s current supply of 120.69M ETH reflects a 0.51% annual increase, contradicting expectations of sustained deflation, according to metrics collected by ultrasound.money. Since Ethereum’s burn mechanism was introduced, ETH transfers have led all activity with a total of 374,298.59 ether burned.

The non-fungible token (NFT) market Opensea follows as the second-largest contributor, responsible for burning 230,051.12 ether, largely driven by NFT transactions. Uniswap V2, operating via Router 2, ranks closely behind with 226,501.32 ether burned. Tether ( USDT) transactions on the Ethereum network have also played a significant role, resulting in the burning of 208,769.94 ether.

The Universal Router for Uniswap accounts for another 153,525.44 ether, while Uniswap V3 via Router 2 burned 124,596.09 ether. Metamask’s Swap Router contributed 89,489.95 ether to the burn total, and another Uniswap Universal Router instance rounds out the leaderboard with 84,388.61 ether burned. The asset’s price has dipped 10.5% this week to $1,601, aligning with broader market trends.

While deflationary periods occurred during peak network usage at specific times over the last few years, consistent scarcity remains elusive. Proponents argue that future upgrades or demand spikes could tip ETH into deflation, but current data highlights the challenge of balancing burns, issuance, and network efficiency. For now, Ethereum’s monetary policy as ‘Ultra Sound Money’ remains a work in progress.

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