How the Cardano burn address works

A lock with a deadline that has passed

Most Cardano addresses belong to a key. Whoever has the key, usually through a recovery phrase, can spend what is inside.

The burn address is different. It belongs to a small public program called a native script. A native script is a set of rules written into the blockchain. Anything sent to the address can only be spent if the rules say yes.

Our script has one rule:

{
    "type": "all",
    "scripts": [
        {
            "type": "before",
            "slot": 112233445
        }
    ]
}

In plain words: “Coins here may only be spent before slot 112233445.”

A slot is Cardano’s clock. One slot passes every second. Slot 112233445 was reached on 28 December 2023. The deadline is in the past, and time on a blockchain never goes backwards. So the rule can never be true again, and nothing at this address can ever be spent.

Why not just “lose” a key?

You could send tokens to a normal address and throw away its recovery phrase. But nobody else could ever be sure the phrase is really gone. Someone might have a copy.

With a script, there is nothing to trust. The rule is public, and the network itself refuses every attempt to spend. That is what “provably unspendable” means.

Check it yourself

You do not need to believe us. Anyone can verify:

1. The address. addr1w8w7a70epjq8vxr86gm3ewuqqw6d24vm572kgrnsgt9qrmgjep53u. The w after addr1 means it is a script address with no stake part.
2. The script hash. The address is built from the hash of the script above: ddeef9f90c80761867d2371cbb8003b4d5559ba795640e7042ca01ed. Explorers such as CardanoScan show it.
3. No outgoing transactions. Open the address on any explorer. Since 28 December 2023 there are only incoming transactions. Nothing has ever left.
4. The ADA Handle. $burn-tokens points to the same address. You can check it in any wallet that supports handles.

What happens to the ADA that travels with tokens?

Every output on Cardano must hold a minimum amount of ADA, so each token you send carries about 1 to 1.5 ADA with it. That ADA stays locked at the burn address forever, together with the tokens. It does not go to us or to anyone else.

The total is shown on the home page and updated every epoch.

Does burning remove tokens from the total supply?

Not exactly. The tokens still exist on the blockchain, but they can never move again, so in practice they are out of circulation for good. A real “burn” that reduces supply on Cardano can only be done by the project that minted the token, using its own minting policy. If you want that, ask the project.