Questions about the burn

The questions that come up most often, answered plainly. Fee burn covers the mechanism; this is about what it means.

Are the coins really destroyed?

Not in the strictest sense, and the site says so rather than glossing over it.

The coins are moved to an address that has no owner, no private key and no code. Nothing can ever sign a transaction from it, so the coins can never move again. What they are not is erased from the ledger: they still exist and they still count towards the total supply figure.

The practical effect is the same as destruction. The bookkeeping is not, and anyone who tells you the supply number itself goes down is wrong.

This is the same mechanism BNB uses.

Does the burn make L2P go up?

Nobody can tell you that, and any page that promises it is selling something.

Burning removes coins from circulation. Whether that matters to the price depends on demand, which the burn does not control. It is one honest fact about the supply, not a forecast.

Is there a schedule, or an auto burn?

No. Some chains buy coins on the market and burn them on a timetable. L2 Protocol does not do that at all.

The only burn is the fee burn, and it happens block by block as the chain gets used. A quiet week burns almost nothing. A busy week burns a lot. That makes the burn rate an honest signal of real usage rather than a marketing schedule.

Who decides how much is burned?

Coin holders, through governance. The burn ratio is an on-chain parameter, so changing it takes a proposal, a vote that reaches quorum, and then the full timelock delay before it takes effect.

No individual, and no part of the team, can turn it up or down. See How governance works.

Could the burn be switched off?

Only the same way it could be raised: a proposal that passes and clears the timelock. It would be visible on the governance site from the moment it was submitted, and anyone holding voting power would get to vote on it.

Do I pay extra for the burn?

No. The burn is a share of the fee you already pay, not something added to it. Whether the ratio is 5 percent or 20 percent, what leaves your wallet is exactly the same: the fee. Only the split between the validator and the burn address changes.

Why is my transaction fee so small then?

Because fees on this chain are small. The burn is a share of a small number, which is why the daily burn figures are modest on a young chain and why the total climbs slowly at first.

Can I burn my own coins?

You can. The burn address is an ordinary address, so a transfer to it works like any other transfer, and the coins are then gone permanently.

Two warnings before anyone tries it. There is no undo, no support desk and no key: a mistake here cannot be repaired by anyone. And your coins will show up in Burned so far but not in the daily fee-burn figures, for the reason explained in Where the burn figures come from.

Why does the total not match the chart?

Because they measure different things. The total is the balance of the burn address, including anything anyone ever sent there by hand. The chart counts only the chain's own fee burns. Where the burn figures come from sets this out in full.

Does the burn affect my staking rewards?

Indirectly, and only a little. The fee on each block is split between the burn, the system reward pool and the validator that produced it. A higher burn ratio means a slightly smaller share for validators and therefore for the people who delegate to them.

That trade is exactly what governance votes on when the ratio comes up: scarcer coins against a smaller reward per block.

Where can I see the burn per block?

On the block explorer. Every block page shows Burnt fees for that block, alongside the block reward. See Blocks, and what finalized means.