A burner address in cryptocurrency refers to a special wallet address used to permanently remove tokens or coins from circulation. These addresses, also called “burn,” “eater,” or “null” addresses, are designed so that once tokens are sent to them, they cannot be retrieved or accessed because the private keys are unknown or intentionally inaccessible. This process is called crypto burning.
Key characteristics and uses:
• Irretrievable: Tokens sent to a burner address are lost forever; no one can access or spend them because there is no private key.
• Supply reduction: Burning is used to decrease the total supply of a cryptocurrency, which can create scarcity and potentially increase the value of the remaining tokens.
• Deflationary mechanism: Some blockchains, like Ethereum, use burning as part of their protocol (e.g., burning a portion of transaction fees) to help manage inflation and stabilize the network.
• Common formats: Burner addresses are often easily recognizable, such as Ethereum’s 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 or addresses ending in “dEaD”.