Recently, I observed an interesting phenomenon in the market. A leading DEX token completed only 24,000 tokens in burns over two days, which sparked widespread discussion in the comment sections—some said, "This burn amount is less lively than a small coin," others questioned, "Is there a problem with the protocol?" and some even believed, "The previous deflationary expectations have fallen short."

This kind of reaction is quite normal, but there are actually several cognitive biases at play. By carefully studying the operational logic of this burn mechanism, you'll find that a small short-term burn volume actually signals something quite interesting.

**First, understand the truth about burns**

Many people imagine this type of burn as a form of "public relations stunt" by the project team—where the team spends money to buy tokens and then burns them to create hype. But in reality, this mechanism is completely different. It is fully open-source, and anyone can participate in triggering burns. This is known as "arbitrage-style burning."

The rule is straightforward: when the accumulated recoverable fee value at a certain address reaches 4,000 tokens, an automatic burn is triggered via a smart contract. Interestingly, this threshold can be reached through fee accumulation across multiple liquidity pools.

Currently, the market rhythm is roughly one burn every 6 to 8 hours. The frequency doesn't seem low, but each burn is approximately 4,000 tokens, which adds up to 24,000 tokens over two days.

**Burn volume doesn't reflect protocol quality**

There's an easily overlooked point here: simply looking at the burn numbers doesn't tell us much. To truly assess whether a burn mechanism is well-designed, two key dimensions matter—sustainability and scalability.

The cleverness of this mechanism lies in its ability to entrust the motivation for burning entirely to market participants. As long as arbitrage opportunities exist, there will be active triggers for burns. The project team doesn't need to inject additional funds to sustain this process. The entire flow is driven purely by market activity, forming a self-sustaining ecosystem.

The current moderate burn volume is largely due to the current fee structure. In the present market environment, accumulating enough fees to reach the 4,000-token threshold takes time. This is a normal market condition and does not indicate a problem with the protocol.

**Less burn can be a good sign**

From another perspective, the amount of burn actually depends on the activity level and trading volume within the ecosystem. If trading volume is high and fees accumulate quickly, the frequency of burns will naturally increase. What does the current state indicate?

It shows that this mechanism is inherently robust. It doesn't rely on artificially large burns to maintain hype but allows everything to operate naturally. This design philosophy is precisely a reflection of sustainability—no short-term stimulation, no bubbles, and a process driven purely by actual trading behavior and natural feedback.

In the long run, as the ecosystem develops, trading pairs increase, and liquidity improves, fee accumulation will accelerate, and both the frequency and scale of burns will rise naturally. Although this process may seem gradual, it actually demonstrates the stability and scalability of the entire mechanism.

Sometimes, the market's obsession with "hype" in numbers can cause us to overlook the logic behind the mechanism design. Truly sustainable deflationary models are not supported by short-term burn data but by a continuous, self-sustaining, market-driven cycle.