Since the activation of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, the network has removed from circulation, or “burned,” over 5,000 ETH (+6.47%), worth roughly $14 million. This represents 36% of total new coin issuance over the same time period.
Average fees on Ethereum have increased slightly since the upgrade went live on Thursday at 12:33 (UTC), rising from 0.003 ETH to 0.005 ETH. In addition block sizes, measured on Ethereum in units of gas, have been trending as anticipated toward the block gas target of 15 million gas.
At first glance, EIP 1559 seems to be working effectively, burning fees and pricing block space on Ethereum dynamically so that block sizes on average hit a healthy target. However, upon closer examination, there is evidence that EIP 1559 may not be so effective in its main aim to make fees on the network more predictable for users.
Under EIP 1559, blocks being mined on Ethereum oscillate dramatically from being 100% full to empty. The reason for this, according to Tim Beiko, thechair of the bi-weekly All Core Developers meeting, is because the pool of transactions eligible to be included in a block gets smaller and larger depending on the minimum fee, or “base fee,” decided by the network.
