<ul>
<li>There is no way to burn ADA.</li>
<li>You can burn the native tokens, if you have the singing keys for the tokens policy and the policy allows it.</li>
<li>If the policy doesn't allow it (locked by time slot), at the moment, there is no way to burn them, but IOG is going to introduce a way to do it in the near future, so keep them around.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-11T03:19:51.493Z
@LarsBrünjes, is it still not possible to destroy tokens locked by time slot ? 
Eager to know more, i want to 'unmint' a minted token for which the time slot has passed ...
MrRobot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T15:08:37.607Z
There is no such thing as a "private key for the tokens". The only thing that matters is the policy.
Lars Brünjes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T18:05:41.743Z
@LarsBrünjes I think he meant the private key for the verification key associated with keyHash used in the policy, so if you don't have that private key, you can neither mint nor burn tokens.
Joshua Chia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T21:30:13.667Z
That is correct Joshua, edited the answer for clarity.
Marek Mahut - StakeNuts
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T22:33:20.760Z
Yes, but the point is: The policy does not need to require a key. You can have a policy that only has a deadline, for example.
Lars Brünjes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-04T16:45:53.797Z
2021-05-05T21:30:10.280Z
2021-05-05T21:30:10.280Z
Marek Mahut - StakeNuts
<p>What are all the ways to burn tokens, including ADA and other tokens? By burning, I mean to remove it from the sum balance of all addresses. E.g. one way is to mint a negative amount of a token. Are there other ways? (Sending tokens to an address that nobody controls doesn't count; I want the token to be completely gone.)</p>
<p>I'm also specifically looking for a way to burn a token after the 'before' slot of the minting policy has passed.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T08:15:03.403Z
Under what circumstances and for what purpose do you wish to burn tokens?
gRebel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T08:16:58.520Z
@gRebel As mentioned in the last paragraph, the specific situation that motivated the question is that I'm trying to burn tokens after the 'before' slot of the minting policy has passed.
Joshua Chia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T08:20:53.033Z
That's what you want to do.  I am interested in why.
gRebel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-05T08:33:09.027Z
As long as you do not burn a token, it is not clear that the token can still be owned by someone. Burning is final and undebatable. Burning also has the advantage of garbage collection for the information that nodes have to remember to process future transactions.
Joshua Chia
<minting>
Ways to burn tokens?
# Ways to burn tokens?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-04)

What are all the ways to burn tokens, including ADA and other tokens? By burning, I mean to remove it from the sum balance of all addresses. E.g. one way is to mint a negative amount of a token. Are there other ways? (Sending tokens to an address that nobody controls doesn't count; I want the token to be completely gone.)

I'm also specifically looking for a way to burn a token after the 'before' slot of the minting policy has passed.

**Tags:** minting
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Under what circumstances and for what purpose do you wish to burn tokens?  
> **username_0**: @gRebel As mentioned in the last paragraph, the specific situation that motivated the question is that I'm trying to burn tokens after the 'before' slot of the minting policy has passed.  
> **username_1**: That's what you want to do.  I am interested in why.  
> **username_0**: As long as you do not burn a token, it is not clear that the token can still be owned by someone. Burning is final and undebatable. Burning also has the advantage of garbage collection for the information that nodes have to remember to process future transactions.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-05-04. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

* There is no way to burn ADA.
* You can burn the native tokens, if you have the singing keys for the tokens policy and the policy allows it.
* If the policy doesn't allow it (locked by time slot), at the moment, there is no way to burn them, but IOG is going to introduce a way to do it in the near future, so keep them around.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: There is no such thing as a "private key for the tokens". The only thing that matters is the policy.  
> **username_0**: @LarsBrünjes I think he meant the private key for the verification key associated with keyHash used in the policy, so if you don't have that private key, you can neither mint nor burn tokens.  
> **username_2**: That is correct Joshua, edited the answer for clarity.  
> **username_4**: Yes, but the point is: The policy does not need to require a key. You can have a policy that only has a deadline, for example.  
> **username_3**: @LarsBrünjes, is it still not possible to destroy tokens locked by time slot ?  Eager to know more, i want to 'unmint' a minted token for which the time slot has passed ...  

---

