Ethereum Losses Due to User Errors and Bugs Could Exceed $3 Billion, Analysis Suggests

Key Points

1. At least 913,111 Ethereum tokens (worth $3.43 billion) have been lost permanently due to user errors and contract bugs, representing 0.76% of ETH's total supply.

2. The 2017 Parity Multisig bug locked 513,746 ETH (worth $1.93 billion), making it the largest single loss in Ethereum's history.

3. Other significant losses include 250,000 ETH lost due to misplaced private keys and 85,476 ETH locked in buggy contracts.

4. Including EIP-1559 burns, over 5% of all ETH ever created (5.3 million ETH worth $23.42 billion) has been permanently removed from circulation.

5. The losses highlight critical security challenges and vulnerabilities in crypto asset management.