Bankless Co-Founder Exits Ether Position, Cites Thesis Completion

David Hoffman, co-founder of crypto media company Bankless, disclosed on May 27 that he sold his entire remaining Ether position on the Thursday prior to the announcement, ending over half a decade of personal exposure to the asset. Hoffman framed the decision as the conclusion of a long-standing investment thesis rather than a loss of confidence in the Ethereum network. ETH currently trades near US$2,000, approximately 60% below its August peak near US$5,000.

Hoffman's Rationale

Hoffman stated on X that he remains "massively bullish" on Ethereum as a network but distinguished between the base layer's growth and the prospects for the ETH token at current levels. "The ETH is Money thesis didn't fail… it played out," Hoffman wrote in a detailed thread published several days after the sale.

He characterised Ethereum as "a giver, not a taker," arguing the protocol operates without markup. "Ethereum takes no markup for anything it does. This is the nature of open source software," Hoffman stated. He noted the design has allowed layer-2 rollups, stablecoin issuers, and applications to absorb most of the economic upside from network growth.

Value Capture Shift

Hoffman pointed to approximately US$163 billion in stablecoins now sitting on Ethereum, up from about US$3 billion in 2020. He stated this build-up "is increasingly strengthening assets like the U.S. dollar instead of strengthening ETH as money." Hoffman argued layer-2 networks and stablecoins on Ethereum now absorb most of the value the base token once expected to capture.

"Ethereum got the ETH price it deserves, and I don't see ETH being rerated as an asset, higher or lower," Hoffman stated. He added that "the window of opportunity for ETH to be 'rerated' by the market seems to be closing."

Price Performance

ETH reached approximately US$5,000 in August, matching its previous cycle peak, before retreating to the US$2,000 range where it has spent recent weeks struggling to hold above US$2,200. Hoffman noted the asset's price has been "largely range-bound for five years."