Ether Supply Hits Lowest Level Since Shanghai Upgrade, Decreasing by Over 309,500 Coins

The supply of Ether has hit a new low since the historic Shanghai upgrade of the Ethereum (ETH) network, witnessing a decline of more than 309,500 coins since September last year. 

According to data from Ultra Sound Money, nearly 1.195 million ETH have been burned since the transition to the Proof of Stake consensus on September 15, 2022. 

The burn rate has outpaced new Ether issuance by approximately 30%, with the network issuing around 885,000 ETH as staking rewards during the same period.

ETH’s current supply stands 56,000 ETH lower than its recent peak of around 120.27 million on October 31. 

The decrease represents an 18% reduction in Ethereum’s supply since the Shanghai upgrade over the past six weeks. 

The recent surge in burned ETH can be attributed to increased on-chain trading, primarily driven by the growing adoption of trading bots.

Uniswap transactions have been the largest contributor to burned ETH in the last 30 days, accounting for approximately 10% of the total ETH destroyed.

Notably, prominent public trading bots such as Maestro and Banana Gun have ranked among the top burning entities on the network, collectively burning around 9% of the ETH removed from circulation in the past month.

How Shanghai Upgrade Made Ethereum Deflationary?

The Shanghai upgrade, also known as The Merge, aimed to make Ethereum a deflationary network by replacing Proof of Work miners and revamping its tokenomics. 

The upgrade resulted in a significant reduction of new Ether issuance, making the network deflationary through the burning of base transaction fees.

Following the Shanghai upgrade, Ethereum demonstrated the potential for deflationary behavior, with the supply peaking at nearly 120.534 million ETH three weeks later. 

The burn rate accelerated in early 2023, leading to a decrease of approximately 276,500 ETH between February 1 and June 8.

Although the burn rate slowed down in the third quarter, the supply of ETH continued to decrease until reaching a post-merge low of around 120.2 million ETH on August 31, effectively offsetting inflation by 307,370 ETH.

Notably, throughout September and October, the supply of Ether turned inflationary for the first time in 2023, with approximately 53,700 coins added to ETH’s supply. 

Nevertheless, Ethereum’s on-chain activity experienced a resurgence in November, driven by bullish market conditions, resulting in a significant acceleration in the burn rate.

As reported, the recent bull run has led to an uptick in DeFi volumes including the rapid movement of institutional funds into digital asset products. 

Overall, total value locked (TVL) across DeFi platforms has surged 11% in the past 30 days with Solana (SOL) registering a 56% increase.

This year, Solana has been described as an institutional investor favorite after weeks of record inflows even when altcoin figures were at a record low. 

Altcoin leader Ethereum also notched an increase in institutional inflow in recent weeks as its asset price broke through the $2,000 mark.

Optimism and Avalanche also recorded gains in DeFi TVL of 17% and 16% respectively. 

NFT volumes posted a turnaround from plunging volumes in previous months. Last month, NFT volumes stood at $0.91 billion marking a 200% growth.