Ethereum's Recent London Hard Fork Upgrade Has Burned More Than $1B Of Ether

According to a recent report, more than $1 billion of Ether (CRYPTO: ETH) has been burned in just about six weeks following the network's London hard fork upgrade.

Close to 300,000 Ethereum have been burned since the launch of the London upgrade.

Regular Ethereum transfers have destroyed around 26,100 ETH worth $90 million so far.

The hard fork, one of a number of Ethereum improvement proposals (EIP), was number EIP-1559, and it was this protocol that was designed to give the network the capacity to process more transactions.

According to the etherchain.org, 298,097 ether in base fees has been burned and permanently removed from circulation since the upgrade was enacted Aug. 5.

EIP-1559 will decrease the profits made by Ethereum miners who previously received those funds, but it is expected to make Ether more scarce and consequently cause its price to soar over time.

EIP-1559 is expected to burn most of Ethereum's transaction fees in the future, significantly decreasing the coin's inflation. 

Estimates show that as much as 1.83 million Ethereum will be burned following the implementation of EIP. 

Last month, $400 million in Ethereum was burned by a network upgrade that destroyed transaction fees. 

Ethereum is expected to switch to the proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism by the end of 2021.