Key Takeaways

The Ethereum Community Foundation has introduced BETH, a proof-of-burn token representing destroyed ETH. This has sparked a debate over the question of scarcity, governance, and Ethereum’s monetary design. 

Ethereum’s [ETH] ecosystem and stakeholders are now engaged in a heated debate after the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF) unveiled BETH – A new token designed to represent burned ETH.

Unlike the vanished coins locked away by EIP-1559 and other burn mechanisms, BETH is a proof-of-burn token. It will provide a tradable on-chain representation of Ethereum that’s already been permanently burned.

The Foundation noted,

“Whether used in governance, incentives, or novel financial instruments, BETH provides a foundation for experimentation.”

It added, 

“As Ethereum continues to evolve, BETH highlights the role of scarcity and destruction as equally powerful forces alongside creation and issuance.”

ECF founder Zak Cole shares concerns

Not everyone is happy though. In fact, Ethereum core developer and ECF Founder Zak Cole criticized BETH’s design when he said, 

“BETH is to burned ETH what WETH is to wrapped ETH.”

Cole highlighted that BETH could unlock novel mechanics, including burn-based voting where influence comes from destroyed tokens and auctions where participants bid through irreversible token destruction. He also proposed expiring namespaces that require continuous burning to remain active.

Additionally, Cole stressed that users should treat BETH purely as a receipt for already-burned ETH, not as a new token with independent value.

He framed the initiative as an experiment to make Ethereum’s burn process more usable, rather than changing its economic fundamentals.

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Author: Ishika Kumari