Bankless co-founder David Hoffman has sold his Ether holdings, saying the "ETH is money" thesis has largely played out. He's still bullish on Ethereum as a network — just not on ETH as a store of value in the same way it once was. The sale comes as Santiment reports rising bearish sentiment around ETH in 2026, with social media shifting from optimism to frustration over weak ETF flows and declining on-chain activity.
Hoffman, who co-founded the popular Bankless media outlet, disclosed the move in recent public comments. He didn't specify the size or timing of the sale, but the reasoning was clear: the bet that ETH would function as sound money — a rival to Bitcoin's store-of-value narrative — has hit a ceiling.
Why Hoffman sold
Hoffman argues Ethereum pursued a far more ambitious path than Bitcoin by expanding into decentralized applications, DeFi, tokenization, and infrastructure. Bitcoin, he says, simplified its blockchain to maximize BTC value. But Ethereum's utility increasingly benefits stablecoins and tokenized dollars rather than ETH itself. He described ETH as "a giver, not a taker" — the network prioritizes ecosystem growth over extracting value for the native token.
The data backs that up. On-chain activity is shifting to layer-2s and stablecoin transfers, which don't necessarily drive demand for ETH. Hoffman's analysis fits a pattern Ethereum proponents have wrestled with all year: network usage grows, but ETH price stagnates.
The broader mood
Santiment's sentiment data paints a similar picture. Social media chatter around Ethereum has gone from optimistic to frustrated this year. Weakening ETF flows, declining on-chain activity, and competition from Solana and BNB Chain are all weighing on the narrative. Hoffman's personal bet aligns with a wider market repricing: ETH's monetary premium is shrinking, even as the network stays busy.
The combination of network growth not translating to token value has been a recurring theme in Ethereum circles this year. Hoffman's sale — from one of the platform's most vocal advocates — underscores just how deep the reassessment goes.
What happened to the 'strong version' of crypto
Hoffman also took a wider view. He said the "strong version" of crypto — DeFi, NFTs, DAOs — failed to maintain mainstream support beyond 2020-2022. Instead, crypto's public reputation has become tied to scams and speculative behavior. That broader reputational damage, he implied, makes it harder for any token — including ETH — to command the kind of premium it once did. He didn't name specific projects, but the pattern is visible in declining NFT trading volumes and a drop in new DAO formations since 2022.
Hoffman's sale doesn't mean he's bearish on Ethereum's future. He still sees the network as vital infrastructure. But the decision to cash out his ETH signals that even true believers are questioning whether the asset's best days as money are behind it. For now, his move stands as one of the highest-profile defections from the "ETH is money" camp — and a reminder that the market will have to decide whether ETH is still a bet on a monetary asset, or just a bet on a platform that happens to run on its own token.
