Ethereum's Success May Have Left ETH Behind

David Hoffman's decision to sell all his ETH holdings has sent ripples through the Ethereum community. As co-founder of Bankless, a prominent voice in the crypto space, and longtime Ethereum maximalist, Hoffman's move is significant.

Hoffman's investment thesis has changed due to the success of the Ethereum network. He believes that the network has become an infrastructure provider, offering cheap and secure blockspace for L2s, DeFi, stablecoins, and real-world assets (RWAs). However, this success has made ETH a 'giver, not a taker,' meaning it no longer captures the economic value it once did.

Hoffman draws a sharp contrast with Bitcoin, which removed unnecessary components and put its asset at the center of the story. In contrast, Ethereum added DeFi, NFTs, L2s, smart contracts, and global tokenization, making its monetary narrative more complicated.