Ethereum’s circulating supply craters to 120M – A post-Merge low

• Ethereum’s burn rate spiked in January.
• This has resulted in a decline in the coin’s circulating supply.

18,109 Ether [ETH], worth around $53.17 million at press time, have been removed from circulation in the last 30 days, pushing its circulating supply to a new post-Merge low, per Ultrasound.money.

Information from the data provider showed that the leading alt’s circulating supply was 120.16 million ETH at press time.

This was the lowest in 524 days, when the coin’s network transitioned to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in an event popularly referred to as “The Merge.”

When the Ethereum network sees growth in demand and utilization, its burn rate increases, and more ETH coins are permanently removed from circulation.

This spike in network activity is often accompanied by a jump in transaction fees.

According to data from Messari, average transaction fees on the Ethereum network have increased by a whopping 100% since the 17th of February.

An uptick in activity on the Ethereum network

An assessment of Ethereum’s non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) verticals confirmed the rally in network demand.

According to data from CryptoSlam, NFT sales volume on the Ethereum network has totaled $395 million so far this month. 

With a few days left till the close of the month, this figure already represented Ethereum’s highest monthly NFT sales volume since April 2023. 

Data from CryptoSlam showed that 619,000 NFT sales transactions have been completed by 91,000 unique sellers and 108,000 unique buyers in the last 21 days. 

Regarding its DeFi sector, a major indicator of growth on the Ethereum network is the rally recorded in total value locked (TVL) in the last 30 days. 

According to data from DefiLlama, Ethereum’s TVL was $46 billion at press time, climbing by 45% in the last month.

During that period, the liquid staking platform Lido Finance, the foremost protocol on the chain, registered a 39% TVL uptick. 

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Further, Ethereum has witnessed a spike in its decentralized exchange (DEX) trade volumes amid the current rally in the values of crypto assets.

Per data from Artemis, the total volume of daily transactions executed on DEXes housed on Ethereum has skyrocketed by 118% since the 17th of February.