How many Ethereum coins are there?

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the backbone of DeFi, NFTs and smart contracts. Unlike Bitcoin with its hard cap of 21 million coins, ETH has a flexible, adaptive supply that changes over time with network activity, validator rewards and the burning of transaction fees. That is why the seemingly simple question “How many Ethereum coins are there?” does not have one static answer.

This tutorial explains how much ETH is currently in circulation, why Ethereum does not have a fixed maximum supply, how its dynamic monetary model works, and what all of this means for users, stakers and long-term holders.

Table of Contents

• What Ethereum Is and How It Differs from Bitcoin
• Ethereum Circulating Supply in 2025
• Maximum Supply: Why Ethereum Has No Hard Cap
• How Ethereum’s Dynamic Supply Model Works
• Step-by-Step: How to Check ETH Supply Yourself
• Common Myths, Risks and Practical Tips
• The Future of Ethereum’s Monetary Policy
• FAQ: Most Frequently Asked Questions About ETH Supply
• Key Takeaways and Next Steps

What Ethereum Is and How It Differs from Bitcoin

Ethereum launched in 2015, created by Vitalik Buterin and a group of developers with a clear vision: to turn the blockchain into a programmable platform, not just a payment network. Because of that, Ethereum is often described as a “programmable blockchain”.

While Bitcoin is frequently compared to “digital gold” — a relatively scarce store of value with a fixed supply — Ethereum is more like a global settlement layer and application platform. On top of Ethereum you can build:

• decentralized applications (dApps);

• DeFi protocols for lending, staking and derivatives;

• NFT collections and blockchain games;

• custom tokens and complex smart contracts.

The native currency of the network is Ether (ETH). It is used to:

• pay transaction fees and execution costs for smart contracts (gas);

• participate in Proof-of-Stake by staking and validating blocks;

• power the entire DeFi and NFT ecosystem built on Ethereum.

The key difference from Bitcoin is that Ethereum does not have a fixed, pre-programmed maximum supply. Instead, the protocol follows an adaptive monetary policy in which ETH supply can either grow or shrink depending on network activity and protocol parameters.

Ethereum Circulating Supply in 2025

As of 2025, the total circulating supply of Ether is in the neighborhood of 120 million coins. This number includes ETH held on exchanges, in wallets, in smart contracts and in staking, minus all coins that have already been burned.

In crypto analytics there are several different but related supply metrics:

• Circulating supply — an estimate of how many coins are available on the market and not permanently lost or burned.

• Total supply — all coins ever issued minus the ones that were burned.

• Maximum supply — a hard coded upper limit. Ethereum does not have this.

With Bitcoin, the maximum of 21 million coins is known and fixed in the protocol. With Ethereum, there is no such hard cap. That does not mean that ETH supply grows uncontrollably. In practice, the combination of the fee-burning mechanism and reduced Proof-of-Stake issuance makes Ethereum potentially deflationary in periods of high network usage.

After the London upgrade (EIP-1559) in August 2021, every Ethereum transaction includes a base fee that is automatically burned. When the network moved to Proof-of-Stake during The Merge in 2022, traditional miner block rewards were replaced with lower validator rewards. Together this led to:

• slower issuance of new ETH compared to the mining era;

• a constant flow of ETH being removed from circulation through burning;

• net negative issuance in periods of high network activity (ETH turning deflationary).

Many users not only want to understand how many ETH exist, but also how to manage their exposure to volatility. A common approach is to swap ETH to a stablecoin such as USDT when you want to lock in value in dollar terms without exiting the crypto ecosystem.

Such an eth to usdt swap can be useful if you actively use Ethereum but want to park part of your funds in a less volatile asset while keeping them on-chain.

Maximum Supply: Why Ethereum Has No Hard Cap

Ethereum stands out among major cryptocurrencies because it has no built-in maximum supply cap. In theory, ETH could continue to be issued indefinitely. This was a deliberate design decision at launch.

The flexibility of not having a hard cap allowed the protocol to:

• keep validator incentives at a healthy level as the network evolved;

• adjust monetary policy as the ecosystem grew and matured;

• change issuance mechanisms without being bound to a single lifetime limit.

Over time, especially after EIP-1559 and the transition to Proof-of-Stake, it became clear that ETH behaves very differently from an “unlimited inflationary token”. Several key mechanisms effectively constrain long-term supply growth.

1. Reduced issuance under Proof-of-Stake

Under the old Proof-of-Work model, miners received relatively high rewards for each block, which meant a higher daily issuance of new ETH. Under PoS, validators still receive rewards, but total issuance has dropped by more than an order of magnitude compared to the mining era.

This shift has made ETH issuance more similar to a low, controlled inflation rate rather than a constantly expanding supply. In some periods, net issuance even becomes negative when burning dominates.

2. Fee burning (EIP-1559)

Every transaction in Ethereum includes a protocol-defined base fee that is burned instead of paid to validators. The higher the demand for block space and the higher the gas prices, the more ETH is destroyed.

During intense on-chain activity — for example, a hot DeFi cycle or a large NFT mint — daily burned ETH can exceed daily issuance. When that happens, total supply decreases: Ethereum becomes deflationary for that period.

3. Deflationary phases

Whenever the amount of ETH burned over a given period is greater than the ETH issued as validator rewards, the network enters a deflationary phase. There have already been multiple such episodes in Ethereum’s recent history.

By 2025, total ETH supply is roughly around 120.2 million coins and continues to fluctuate slightly day by day as issuance and burning play out. Technically, there is no hard cap, but the combination of low issuance and continuous burning makes ETH behave in many ways like a capped or even shrinking asset over longer horizons.

How Ethereum’s Dynamic Supply Model Works

Ethereum’s monetary policy aims to balance three goals at the same time:

• keep the network secure by properly incentivizing validators;

• ensure long-term economic sustainability of the protocol;

• maintain meaningful scarcity of ETH as usage grows.

In simple terms, the supply model is driven by three forces: issuance, burning and usage.

Proof-of-Stake and validator rewards

In the current PoS design, validators stake ETH to participate in block production and consensus. In return, they receive rewards paid in newly issued ETH.

This issuance:

• is encoded in the protocol and predictable;

• is far lower than it was under mining;

• depends on the total amount of ETH staked and other network parameters.

The goal is to keep issuance “just high enough” to secure the network, without flooding the market with new coins or significantly diluting existing holders.

Burning of fees (EIP-1559)

After EIP-1559, the base fee component of each transaction is burned. Only the optional tip goes to validators. This means a portion of ETH paid in fees is removed from circulation forever.

When demand for block space increases, base fees rise, and so does the amount of ETH burned. In quiet periods, burning slows down; in busy periods, it accelerates and can overtake issuance.

The net effect: engineered scarcity

The interaction between PoS issuance and EIP-1559 burning creates an “elastic” supply model:

• when usage is low, net issuance is slightly positive — ETH behaves like a low-inflation asset;

• when usage is high, net issuance can turn negative — ETH becomes deflationary.

The more Ethereum is used as a base layer for dApps, NFTs and DeFi, the more ETH is burned. As a result, increased utility and demand can be accompanied by stronger scarcity, which is why many supporters refer to ETH as “ultrasound money”.

Step-by-Step: How to Check ETH Supply Yourself

You do not have to rely on second-hand numbers. You can verify Ethereum supply yourself using public blockchain data and analytics dashboards. Here is a practical outline.

Step 1: Pick a reliable data source

Use a reputable Ethereum block explorer or analytics service that displays supply metrics and burning statistics. Make sure it shows total supply, circulating supply and burned ETH.

Step 2: Locate the ETH supply section

In the interface you will typically find a panel labelled “ETH Supply”, “Total Supply”, “Circulating Supply” or similar. Check when the data was last updated — it should be near real-time for most services.

Step 3: Review burning statistics

Good dashboards also show how much ETH has been burned over the last 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days and since EIP-1559. This allows you to understand whether burning currently offsets issuance or not.

Step 4: Look at net issuance

Some tools explicitly show “net issuance” — the change in total ETH supply over a period after accounting for both rewards and burning. A positive value means supply increased, a negative value means it decreased.

Step 5: Compare with network activity

To see the model in action, compare net issuance with network load: daily transactions, gas usage, DeFi and NFT activity. You will usually notice that periods of intense usage coincide with higher burning and lower or even negative net issuance.

Step 6: Revisit the numbers over time

Because Ethereum’s supply is dynamic, you should treat these metrics as snapshots. If you rely on supply data for your own analysis, refresh it regularly instead of reusing outdated numbers.

Common Myths, Risks and Practical Tips

Ethereum’s dynamic supply has created a number of myths and oversimplified narratives. Understanding the limits of the model is just as important as knowing how it works.

Myth 1: “If an asset is deflationary, its price must always go up”

Even if net ETH supply is shrinking, that alone does not guarantee higher prices. Market demand, macro conditions, regulatory risk and sentiment all matter. A deflationary model can reinforce scarcity, but it does not rеplace real-world demand for Ethereum as a platform.

Myth 2: “No hard cap means unlimited inflation”

Technically there is no maximum number of ETH, but that does not mean supply will explode. Reduced PoS issuance and constant fee burning act as strong brakes on long-term growth in circulating supply.

Myth 3: “All issued ETH is available on the market”

In reality, a large share of ETH is:

• locked in staking;

• deposited into DeFi protocols;

• held by long-term holders who rarely move their coins;

• lost forever in inaccessible wallets.

Effective liquidity is lower than headline circulating supply, which can further strengthen scarcity in practice.

Practical tips for working with ETH supply metrics

• Look at both the absolute number of coins and the annualized rate of change in supply.

• Compare Ethereum’s net issuance with that of other major cryptocurrencies to understand how “hard” its monetary policy is in relative terms.

• Keep in mind the role of stablecoins: moving from ETH into USDT or other stablecoins is often a temporary step in a broader strategy, not a permanent exit from the Ethereum ecosystem.

The Future of Ethereum’s Monetary Policy

Ethereum’s monetary model is not frozen. It continues to evolve in parallel with scaling upgrades and improvements to the protocol.

On the one hand, upcoming and ongoing scalability improvements — including technologies related to proto-danksharding and layer-two growth — aim to make transactions cheaper and more accessible. On the other hand, they inevitably affect how much ETH is burned and how valuable block space remains.

If fees per transaction become lower, the amount of ETH burned per transaction may fall as well. But if cheaper transactions significantly increase total usage, overall burning can remain substantial or even grow. The net effect on supply will depend on the balance between cheaper fees and higher throughput.

In any case, the core idea remains the same: Ethereum’s future supply is not anchored to a single number. It is shaped by:

• actual demand for Ethereum as a base layer for applications;

• protocol decisions regarding issuance and burning parameters;

• the trade-off between network security and long-term scarcity of ETH.

FAQ: Most Frequently Asked Questions About ETH Supply

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Ethereum’s supply model is unusual: there is no fixed maximum number of coins, but there are strong mechanisms that slow down or even reverse growth in total supply. In practice this means that:

• ETH supply is dynamic and reacts to network activity;

• the balance of validator rewards and burned fees determines whether ETH is inflationary or deflationary at any given time;

• Ethereum is both a programmable base layer for decentralized applications and a potentially scarce asset in its own right.

If you build, stake or invest around Ethereum, understanding how ETH supply works gives you a more grounded view of risk and long-term value. As a next step, it is worth taking a closer look at how Proof-of-Stake, staking yields and swaps between ETH and stablecoins (for example, through an eth to usdt swap) fit into your own strategy and risk management.

Disclaimer: This material is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, financial guidance or a recommendation to buy or sell any assets.