$ETH
Over 913,000 Ethereum (ETH), valued at approximately $3.4 billion, has been permanently lost due to user errors and technical issues. This loss represents about 0.76% of Ethereum's total supply. The main reasons behind these losses include ¹ ²:
- *Wrong Address Transfers*: Users mistakenly sending ETH to incorrect or non-recoverable addresses.
- *Smart Contract Vulnerabilities*: Bugs or coding errors in smart contracts can lead to funds being locked or exploited permanently.
- *Multisig Wallet Failures*: Misconfigured or destroyed multi-signature wallets can render ETH inaccessible.
Some notable incidents contributing to these losses are
- *Parity Multisig Vulnerability*: 306,000 ETH locked due to a bug.
- *QuadrigaCX Incident*: 60,000 ETH lost due to a faulty contract after the CEO's death.
- *Akutars NFT Minting Mishap*: 11,500 ETH lost due to smart contract bugs.
When combined with the 5.3 million ETH burned through Ethereum's EIP-1559 upgrade, the total amount of ETH removed from circulation rises to 6.2 million, representing about 5% of the total supply. This reduction in supply could potentially increase scarcity and drive up $ETH value in the long run
While some see this as a tragedy, others believe it could spark Ethereum's next big bull run. With nearly 50% of staked ETH validators supporting a gas limit increase to enhance scalability and reduce fees, Ethereum's price has shown bullish momentum. Whether this loss will ultimately drive up ETH's value remains to be seen, but it's clear that robust security measures and user education are crucial to preventing such losses in the future