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The Ethereum ecosystem has witnessed a surprising development with the introduction of a new token called BETH (Burned ETH Token). This token, which was recently launched by the Ethereum Community Foundation, is an attempt to reshape how Ethereum’s burn mechanics are understood and applied. 

Instead of the invisible process of ETH being destroyed under EIP-1559, BETH was created to give the act of burning Ethereum a tangible and trackable form.

BETH Makes Burned ETH Visible

Under existing Ethereum mechanics, notably EIP‑1559, portions of ETH, such as transaction fees, are destroyed without leaving a trace, serving only to emphasize scarcity. However, ECF’s new BETH changes that. According to the ECF website, BETH is designed to capture and formalize the concept of proof of burn.

When users send ETH to the designated contract, it forwards the funds to an irretrievable burn address and also mints an equivalent amount of BETH on a 1:1 basis. The result is that each BETH token functions as a transparent, audit-ready receipt for ETH that has truly been removed from circulation. This means that the more BETH tokens created, the more the number of ETH that have been permanently removed from circulation.

Taking to the social media platform X, ECF founder Zak Cole likens BETH to WETH: “BETH is to burned ETH what WETH is to wrapped ETH.” Just as WETH is Ether for smart contracts, BETH standardizes burned ETH, making it usable as a building block for new mechanics, such as burn‑based voting, auctions defined by irreversible token destruction, and even expiring namespaces that require ongoing burn activity to remain active. 

Despite its potential use cases, BETH is only a token that signifies the burn activity of users. As such, Zak Cole noted that BETH is meant strictly as a receipt and should not be treated as a token with inherent value. Nonetheless, it is easy to argue that turning burned ETH into a token might undercut the point of burning altogether

Ethereum’s Burn Mechanics

ETH burning on the Ethereum blockchain officially began on August 5, 2021, with the activation of the London hard fork. That upgrade introduced EIP-1559 (Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559), which fundamentally changed Ethereum’s fee mechanism. Instead of all transaction fees going directly to miners, the base fee for each transaction started being burned and permanently removed from circulation.

According to data from Ultrasound Money, the total ETH burned from the London hard fork to date is approximately 4.612 million ETH. At the same time, about 8.431 million ETH have been issued since then, meaning the ETH circulating supply has grown by 3.819 million ETH. 

Ethereum’s transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake in September 2022 helped slow issuance dramatically, and deflation is a more realistic long-term scenario if demand is strong. 

At the time of writing, 0.339 BETH have been created, according to data from Etherscan.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

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House Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry has sent a strong warning to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, signaling his readiness to issue a subpoena if necessary to secure the release of documents pertaining to the FTX collapse and the SEC’s climate disclosure rule.

Gary Gensler Hiding FTX Crash Documents?

In a tweet today, McHenry expressed his frustration, stating, “SEC Chair GaryGensler refuses to schedule a Commission vote to provide Congress with requested documents. Should Gensler continue to stonewall, Republicans will have no choice but to issue the first subpoena to the SEC from my Committee to compel their production.”

The controversy stems from the committee’s demand for documents related to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and the timing of his arrest. During a Congressional hearing last week, McHenry claimed that the SEC had “made multiple requests” for these documents but had not received any non-public information beyond what was part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) production.

Criticism of Gensler’s Leadership

During the hearing, Chairman McHenry also criticized SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s approach to rulemaking, accusing him of jeopardizing the integrity of financial markets and putting investors at risk.

“Chairman Gensler, our patience is wearing thin. Your efforts to choke off the digital asset ecosystem, which has created real harm for consumers and our markets,” said Mc Henry.

Furthermore, McHenry accused Gensler of failing to prioritize capital formation, stating that there was not a single initiative aimed at improving access to capital or enhancing market competitiveness among Gensler’s expansive rulemaking agenda. The lawmaker also raised concerns about Gensler’s approach to digital assets, claiming that it had created confusion and lasting damage.

Notably, Gensler also faced questions from McHenry during the hearing, where he affirmed that Bitcoin was “not a security” as it did not meet the Howey test’s criteria for an investment contract. This stance aligned with Gensler’s previous statements during his time as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018.

That said, the threat of a subpoena adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing battle between the SEC and Congress with implications for both regulatory transparency and the digital asset industry.

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Sunil is a serial entrepreneur and has been working in blockchain and cryptocurrency space for 2 years now. Previously he co-founded Govt. of India supported startup InThinks and is currently Chief Editor at Coingape and CEO at SquadX, a fintech startup. He has published more than 100 articles on cryptocurrency and blockchain and has assisted a number of ICO’s in their success. He has co-designed blockchain development industrial training and has hosted many interviews in past. Follow him on Twitter at @sharmasunil8114 and reach out to him at sunil (at) coingape.com

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