ETH supply has risen to levels before the merger upgrade, and the Dencun upgrade may be the reason for the expansion

ChainCatcher news, according to The block, the supply of Ether has risen to its highest level since January 2023, comparable to the levels before the merge update on September 15, 2022. Data from ultrasound.money shows that the current supply of Ether is 120,521,523 ETH, which is about 383 ETH higher than the supply on the day of the merge upgrade.

Presto Research analyst Jaehyun Ha stated that last year's Dencun upgrade was the reason for the expansion of Ether supply, and the status of Ether as "ultrasound money" (a deflationary asset that makes it a superior store of value compared to Bitcoin) may be at risk.

Jaehyun Ha said, "With the launch of the Dencun upgrade, Ethereum increased support for blob transactions, aimed at handling large data loads more efficiently (especially L2)." "These transactions use a separate fee unit called 'blob gas,' which is different from the standard gas fees applicable to regular transactions." This change has led to a decrease in the proportion of burn fees due to a significant shift of transaction activity to blob transactions. "The reduction in fees means that even if overall network activity remains high or grows, the balancing effect that previously limited the net supply of ETH is now less pronounced."