The per-block burn under BEP-95
BEP-95 introduced a mechanism that takes part of the gas collected in each block and sends it somewhere it can never be spent from. The specification records the change as already implemented, and puts the burning logic inside the function that distributes block rewards, so the destruction happens as part of ordinary reward processing on BNB Smart Chain (source: BEP-95).
The share destroyed is a governable value called burnRatio, and it was set at 10% when the mechanism launched. Because it is governable, it can be changed by a vote, so the current setting is worth checking against the chain rather than assumed from a document.
The order is worth getting right, because it is easy to describe loosely. Gas collected in a block goes to two system contracts: a System Reward contract takes one sixteenth of it while holding less than its 100 BNB cap, and everything else goes to the contract that pays validators. The burn happens inside that second contract, which sends 10% of the block's collected gas to the burn address before the remainder is distributed to validators and their delegators (source: BEP-95).
| Step | What happens to the block's gas |
|---|---|
| 1 | One sixteenth goes to the System Reward contract, while it holds under 100 BNB |
| 2 | The rest goes to the contract that pays validators |
| 3 | Inside that contract, 10% of the collected gas is sent to the burn address |
| 4 | What remains is distributed to the validator and its delegators |
Working through an example makes the scale clear. Say you pay 0.01 BNB in gas for a swap that goes through. That fee joins everything else collected in the same block, and when the block's rewards are distributed, 10% of the total collected leaves for the burn address. Your individual contribution to the burn is a fraction of a fraction, which is the point: the mechanism works because millions of transactions add up, not because any single one matters.
The address the coins go to
Burned coins are sent to 0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dead, an address with no known private key. Nobody can sign a transaction from it, so anything arriving there is permanently removed from circulation while remaining visible on the chain.
You will see that address written with mixed capitals as 0x...dEaD. That is a checksum format, a convention that encodes a validity check in the pattern of capital letters, and both forms refer to the same address because the underlying characters are identical.
Block explorers show the balance at that address rising steadily, and it is public (source: BscScan). It is worth being clear about what that balance is and is not. It holds around 16.5 million BNB, which is the portion of the destroyed supply that was routed through this address, while roughly 66.8 million has gone from the original 200 million in total (source: CoinGecko). Earlier burn programs retired coins by other routes, so this balance is a large part of the story rather than all of it. The coins are counted there precisely because they can never move again. The BNB glossary covers the terms that come up around this.
How the burn rate gets changed
The 10% figure is a parameter rather than a constant, and changing it is a governance decision made on-chain by the validators who secure the network (source: BNB Chain Docs).
The process has real thresholds attached to it, because a proposal requires a deposit, and passing it requires a quorum of the bonded validator set, which means a change needs meaningful support across the operators running the chain instead of a single decision by anyone. That is what distinguishes a protocol parameter from a company policy, and how decentralized BNB Chain is looks at who those operators are.
For a holder the practical consequence is small but worth knowing: the burn rate you read in a document from 2021 may differ from the rate running today, and the chain is the authority on which. What the BNB token is used for covers governance among the coin's other uses.
Auto-Burn, the quarterly program
The second mechanism runs on a schedule instead of per block. Auto-Burn removes a quantity of BNB each quarter, calculated from a published formula that takes account of the coin's price and the number of blocks produced on the chain, and the project publishes the result each time (source: BNB Chain Blog).
Its stated destination is a total supply of 100 million coins, half the original 200 million (source: BNB Chain). Auto-Burn replaced an earlier arrangement in which Binance repurchased coins using a share of its own profits, and the change was designed so that the amount destroyed follows the chain and the market instead of one company's revenue.
| BEP-95 | Auto-Burn | |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Every block | Every quarter |
| Source of coins | Collected transaction fees | Calculated from a published formula |
| Scale | Small and continuous | Large and announced |
Between them the two mechanisms have taken the supply from 200 million to roughly 133 million as of September 2026 (source: CoinGecko). BNB tokenomics covers how the original supply was structured and where the current figure sits against it.
How this compares with Ethereum
Ethereum adopted a fee burn under EIP-1559, which changed how transaction fees are calculated and destroys the base portion of every fee (source: EIP-1559). The similarity to BEP-95 is real, and so are two differences.
Ethereum destroys the entire base fee, while BNB Smart Chain destroys a governable share of the total, currently 10%. And Ethereum still issues new ETH to pay validators, so its supply rises or falls depending on whether burning outpaces issuance, whereas BNB issues nothing at all and its supply can only fall (source: ethereum.org).
That makes BNB's supply direction simpler to describe and its security funding more dependent on usage, since fees are the only source. The London upgrade covers Ethereum's version, and ETH and ultrasound money covers the argument that grew up around it.
What a burn actually tells you
A burn reduces supply, and that is the entire claim. It is worth holding onto, because burns routinely get read as promising a great deal more than that.
Destroying coins pays nobody anything, so it is not a dividend, and nothing arrives in your wallet when a burn happens; the effect, if any, is that your existing holding represents a slightly larger share of the total. Nor does a burn set a price, since price depends equally on demand, and a shrinking supply of an asset nobody wants still falls in value.
Both of BNB's mechanisms are also public and predictable in advance. BEP-95 runs every block by rule, and Auto-Burn follows a published formula on a known schedule, so neither is news when it happens. Anyone trading a quarterly burn as though it were fresh information is trading something the market has known about for months. What moves BNB price covers the drivers that carry more weight, and BNB price history shows how the coin has traded through past burn cycles.
Frequently asked questions
What is BEP-95?
It is the rule that destroys part of the transaction fees collected in every block on BNB Smart Chain. The share is a governable value set at 10% when the mechanism launched (source: BEP-95), and the coins go to an address that nobody holds the keys to. It runs automatically as part of distributing block rewards, so no decision is involved.
How much BNB has been burned?
Enough to take the supply from the original 200 million to roughly 133 million by September 2026, so about a third has gone. That total combines the continuous per-block burn with the larger quarterly Auto-Burn program. The stated target is 100 million, and current figures are best read from a live data page since the number changes constantly.
Where do burned BNB coins actually go?
To the address 0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dead, which has no known private key, so nothing sent there can ever be moved again. Block explorers show its balance rising as a running total of everything destroyed. You will sometimes see the address written with mixed capitals, which is a checksum format for the same address.
What is the difference between BEP-95 and Auto-Burn?
Timing and source both differ. BEP-95 destroys a share of collected gas in every block, so it is small, continuous and driven by network usage. Auto-Burn runs quarterly, calculates an amount from a published formula involving price and block count, and removes a much larger quantity at once. Both mechanisms work toward the same 100 million target.
Can the burn rate change?
Yes, because the 10% share is a governance parameter and validators can vote to change it (source: BEP-95). A proposal needs a deposit and has to reach a quorum of the bonded validator set to pass, so a change requires broad support among the operators running the chain. The chain itself is the authority on the current setting.
Does burning BNB push the price up?
It reduces supply, which is one input into a price, and demand is the other. A smaller supply of an asset that people have stopped wanting still gets cheaper, so the mechanism guarantees nothing by itself. Both of BNB's burns are also announced in advance and follow known rules, which means the market has generally had the information for a long time before any particular burn runs.
Researched and written by the BloFin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. Updated September 2026. Primary sources include BEP-95, BloFin's Help Center, BNB Chain, BscScan and the BNB Chain documentation. All facts independently verified against cited documentation current as of September 2026.
This article is educational and general in nature, not financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies like BNB carry real risks, including price volatility, venue risk, smart-contract exploits in ecosystem applications, issuer and chain risk, and the chance of losing funds sent on the wrong network. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. Do your own research, and consider speaking with a licensed professional before making financial decisions. BloFin does not provide investment advice.