When the Burn Stopped: How Ethereum's Fee Market Inverted
· 5 min read
Ethereum's gas fees are close to zero. Everyone knows that. What's less obvious is what the collapse did to where the fees go — and what it means for EIP-1559's core promise.
In January 2025, for every ETH a user paid in gas, roughly 82% was burned and 18% went to validators as tips. Today it's the opposite: roughly 89% goes to validators and 11% is burned. The ratio didn't shift gradually. It inverted in a single month.