Merge failed? Ethereum supply is on the rise again.

While the Ethereum supply decreased after the Merge update in 2022, this situation has recently reversed. According to data from Ethereum data tracker ultrasound.money, the total #ETH supply has increased by 112 thousand since April 14, 2024.

The change in the deflationary structure was observed after the Dencun upgrade implemented on March 13, which was confusing. EIP-4844 and eight other improvements implemented on the Ethereum network post-Dencun may have led to the resumption of inflation.

The Dencun upgrade included an enhancement called proto-danksharding, which increased efficiency for block space on the Ethereum mainnet. EIP-4844, on the other hand, allowed separate and temporary storage of transaction data. These updates significantly reduced transaction fees on layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum and Optimism.

When we look at the big picture, we see that Ether supply has decreased in the medium term thanks to Merge. After the Merge update in September 2022, more than 1.5 billion $ETH was burned and 1.36 billion #ETH was released. As a result, there was a decrease of 345 thousand in total supply.