Significant Loss of Ether
In recent observations, a staggering 913,111 Ether (ETH), equivalent to approximately 0.76% of the total circulating supply, has been deemed permanently lost due to user mistakes and software bugs. This estimate was shared by Conor Grogan, a product leader at Coinbase, on his social media platform account on Sunday. At current market valuations, this loss represents over $3.43 billion.
Total Inaccessible Ether
When factoring in the 5.3 million Ethereum permanently removed through Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 (EIP-1559) since its launch in 2021, the total amount of ETH rendered inaccessible reaches around 6.2 million, or about $23.4 billion, making up 5% of the total supply of 120.7 million ETH, as stated by Grogan.
Increase in Lost Ether
The amount of Ether lost has seen a significant increase of 44% since March 2023, when losses were reported to be at 636,000 ETH. This surge suggests that the primary sources of loss remain constant, with notable errors including:
- 306,000 ETH attributed to a bug in the Web3 Foundation’s Parity Multisig
- 60,000 ETH lost from a flawed contract by Quadriga
- 11,500 ETH lost during a problematic NFT minting by Akutars
Notably, the newer data recorded an additional 1,000 ETH sent to a burn address since the March report.
Potentially Lost Ether
Grogan emphasized that the reported $3.4 billion only represents a fraction of what is potentially lost or unreachable ETH, as this figure does not encompass all instances of forgotten private keys or abandoned Genesis wallets.
Ethereum Supply Dynamics
Despite the rising figures of lost Ether, it is essential to note that Ethereum operates without a maximum supply cap, unlike Bitcoin’s capped 21 million coins. However, two significant upgrades have restricted ETH issuance:
- EIP-1559, implemented in August 2021, which modified transaction fee structures to include burning fees
- The Merge, concluded in September 2022, transitioning Ethereum to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism
According to insights from YCharts, Ethereum’s supply expanded steadily until September 2022, reaching approximately 120.5 million ETH at that time. Subsequently, the supply has slightly declined by about 0.4% through April 2024 but is now beginning to grow again. As of this report, the total supply stands at around 120.7 million ETH.
