David Hoffman, the co-founder of the crypto media outlet Bankless, has sold his entire Ethereum portfolio. He said this week that he no longer believes Ethereum's success will fully translate into higher ETH prices. The move comes as ETH trades near a fragile support zone around $2,050 to $2,100, struggling to regain resistance above $2,300.
Network vs. asset — a growing divide
Hoffman draws a sharp line between Ethereum the network and ETH the asset. He says he's still bullish on the network — it provides secure blockspace to Layer 2s, tokenizes real-world assets. But he argues ETH itself is structurally designed to give value back to its ecosystem. 'ETH is a giver, not a taker,' Hoffman said, and that dynamic caps how much value the asset can capture from network growth.
The 'ETH is money' thesis, he added, didn't fail — it played out. But that doesn't mean ETH's price will keep climbing as the network expands. Hoffman has been in the Ethereum space since around 2016 and helped popularize the 'ETH as internet money' narrative through Bankless. Now he's voting with his wallet.
Where the activity goes
Ethereum usage remains strong in stablecoins, rollups, DeFi, and tokenization. But L2s and applications now capture a lot of the activity that previously supported the fee-burn narrative. That shift means less demand for ETH, even as the network hums along. Hoffman isn't alone in noticing: Ethereum ETFs have not delivered consistent inflows needed to offset weaker market confidence.
Hoffman said he's not bearish on ETH per se. He just doesn't expect a structural rerating — higher or lower. So he'd rather put capital elsewhere. He didn't name his new targets, but the message is clear: if the asset can't capture network value, holding it becomes a bet on something else entirely.
ETH is now testing a zone that traders watch closely. If it breaks below $2,050, the path could get rougher. Hoffman's sell-off is a single data point, but it comes from a longtime insider. The question hanging over the market: will other Ethereum advocates follow his logic, or will they bet that fee burns and ETF flows eventually catch up?
