Etherum frenzy: commission burnout takes tokens out of circulation at record pace

The number of ETH permanently removed from circulation due to the EIP-1559 mechanism has passed the 5.5 million mark and continues to increase at a rate of over 8,200 coins per day. The impulse gave a sharp surge of activity in the second layer networks: the growth of Arbitrum and Base transaction volume raised the average burn rate to 3.1 ETH per minute, which exceeded even the peak values of the spring meme rounds. At the same time, the weekly issuance of the main layer went into an exhilarating minus - -0.48% p.a., strengthening the arguments of supporters of "ultra-sound" money.

At the same time, validators' capital gains remain stable, with the staking rate hovering around 3.3% p.a. and the total amount of blocked ETH rising to 32.4 million, almost 27% of supply. Coin concentration accelerates the decline in inflation, but intensifies the decentralization debate. Client team leaders urge participants to more actively diversify software implementations to avoid over-sharing of Prysm and Lighthouse.

Amid these fundamental shifts, ETH's exchange rate dynamics appear subdued. The quote is hovering around $3,400, second to Bitcoin's growth rate. However, options traders are noting increased demand for large December calls with a strike of $4,500, signaling growing interest in a potential year-end breakout. Additional fuel may be provided by the launch of the Stateless-synchronization feature provided by the Pectra update, thanks to which nodes will be able to accelerate the initial chain load without unnecessary hardware costs.

The developers are on schedule, so the final testing of SEP-4844 has been completed without critical failures, and the implementation of Proto-Danksharding is scheduled for December. The innovation will reduce the commission load on rollups by half or more, which should inspire new users of DeFi applications and social-gamification projects. Galaxy Research analysts predict that total blockchain value in the L2 ecosystem could reach $85 billion by mid-2026.

Strategists at major funds point out that accelerated burn creates a supply asymmetry similar to programmatic buyback: current estimates put cumulative fee-based gas spending equivalent to a day's worth of gold mining at about $14 million. If demand persists, the supply shortage has the potential to play a key role in another bull cycle, especially after the onset of a macroeconomic pause in monetary tightening.

Market participants, meanwhile, are experimenting with new price discovery models, including block space auctions and premium performer guarantees. Each megabyte is becoming a digital deposit where value is determined not only by bandwidth but also by the rate at which coins are burned, turning a normal transaction into an act of deflationary pressure on the balance of supply.