Ethereum Has Destroyed $8.10 Billion in Ether, ETH Scarcity to Increase After The Merge

EIP1559 was implemented by Ethereum developers approximately 288 days ago. This upgrade basically modified the algorithm linked to the base price per gas in the protocol. The network now pays the base fee per gaz.

After EIP 1559 was coded into the codebase and made live on August 5, 2021, 2.35million ether valued at $8.10 trillion USD has been lost forever.

Vitalik Buterin , Ethereum’s co-founder, explained the day after EIP1559 was implemented.

In the last 24 hours, 2,396 Ethereum worth $4.63 Million were burned. The network had the highest daily burn rate with 71.718 ether valued at $138.78million on May 1, 2022. The second-highest daily burn rate was set on January 10, 2022 when 19,424 ether worth approximately $37.5 million was lost.

Opensea is the largest ethereum burner in today’s world. The marketplace has used 229,925 Ethereum to complete 14,639,327 transactions. The gas used to transfer ether has consumed a total of 207 072 ETH and Uniswap has consumed 131 457 ether.

The London upgrade’s EIP1559 was a significant protocol change. However, The Merge will bring about the next major shift. From its current proof of work (PoW consensus algorithm, Ethereum will move to a fully proof-of stake (PoS), network.

As they anticipate that The Merge will be codified this summer, Ethereum supporters are already preparing for it. Consensys, an Ethereum-focused software company, launched an early access version’BonsaiTries‘ on May 17. This version aims to be a few days ahead of the official Merge transition.

Moreover, Preston Van Loon , an Ethereum developer, stated that The Merge could be implemented by August at the Permissionless conference. Recently, Tim Beiko an Ethereum developer explained that the Merge would likely go live in the third quarter 2022. Beiko explained that he strongly suggests that miners not invest in new mining rigs moving forward.

Although the changes are coming, Ethereum’s PoW havehrate was at its highest point during the network’s history on May 13, at block elevation 14,770,231. Many crypto supporters believe that ethereum with the deflationary mechanism will make it ‘ultra-sound’ money.

Simulations of The Merge show that ethereum will be less scarce after the transition. The current issuance rate for Ethereum is 5.4 million ethereum per year. After The Merge, it will drop to 500,000 ether per annum. Currently, supply growth is 3.7% per annum, but after The Merge it will be around 0.4% per annum.

In spite of all these changes, Ethereum’s annual burn rate is expected to remain the same at around 900,000. But, large spikes, such as the 71.718 ether that was burned on May 1st, can alter estimates greatly.