David Hoffman, co-founder of the Bankless media brand, has sold his Ethereum holdings. In a move that caught the attention of the crypto community, Hoffman argued that the 'ETH is money' thesis has fully played out. The news comes as Ether trades around $1,975, down 2.4% on the day and roughly 14% over the past month.
Why Hoffman stepped away from ETH
Hoffman didn't mince words. He pointed to changing L1 dynamics, specifically citing Solana's 2024 rerating and NEAR's 2026 move as examples of token strength correlating with fee market share. Ethereum, by contrast, lost fee market share through 2024 and 2025. For Hoffman, the narrative that ETH equals money — a bet that propelled its price from the DeFi summer through the last bull cycle — no longer holds.
What the on-chain data says
The numbers back up a cooling network. Daily active addresses on Ethereum peaked above 1.5 million in January. Today that figure sits near 544,000 — a drop of more than 60%. ETH supply on exchanges tells a similar story of fading conviction: it fell from roughly 8.5 million to about 7 million in late January, then climbed back to 7.5 million in May. That's not a rush to exit, but it's not a wholesale accumulation signal either.
One bright spot: Ethereum now settles $163 billion in stablecoins, up from $3 billion in 2020. The infrastructure is there. The short-term demand, less so.
The chart support under pressure
Technicians see a descending parallel channel on the daily chart, with support near $1,920. A break below that level opens a path to $1,750. Trading volume has been declining since early February — not the kind of setup that suggests a sudden reversal. The 14-day RSI is near 30, entering oversold territory. That can sometimes attract dip buyers, but the trend remains bearish until proven otherwise.
The next concrete level to watch is $1,920. If that fails, $1,750 is the floor the market is pricing in. Hoffman's sale adds a psychological weight to an already heavy chart.
