Bankless Co-Founder Sells ETH, Questions Its Valuation

David Hoffman, co-founder of Bankless, has reduced his position in Ethereum.

David Hoffman, co-founder of the educational platform Bankless, has reduced his position in Ethereum, stating that he no longer anticipates a significant structural revaluation of the asset.

I spent the weekend putting my thoughts about $ETH and Ethereum into this article

I built my career, community, and business on Ethereum, so the decision to sell deserves a deeper explanation

I hope this is sufficient

Thank you, all https://t.co/cPCbMcz8EY

— David Hoffman (@TrustlessState) May 26, 2026

Hoffman emphasized that his view of Ethereum as a network remains positive, but his investment thesis has shifted. According to him, the concept of “ETH is money” has not failed but has rather fully realized itself. The market, in his view, has given the asset “the price it deserves.” 

Ethereum “Distributes” Value to the Ecosystem

Hoffman is confident that the project will continue to develop as infrastructure, but only a small part of this growth will be reflected in the native token’s price. The reason lies in the network’s architecture: Ethereum redistributes economic value in favor of decentralized applications, L2 solutions, and other projects.

He described Ethereum as “a giver, not a taker.” The network provides security and DeFi tools almost at cost, without accumulating a significant share of the created value in the asset. Hoffman considers the volume of generated fees as a key factor in evaluating L1 blockchains.

In his opinion, Ethereum has not maintained its leadership in revenue among first-layer networks long enough to trigger a new wave of capitalization growth. As examples of the direct connection between fee income and token price, he cited the dynamics of Ether in 2021, Solana in 2024, and NEAR in 2026.

The Dominance of Stablecoins and “Dollar Hegemony”

Hoffman also revised his view on DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs as the foundation of a fully autonomous financial system. 

He noted that the period of positive perception of the crypto industry was short (late 2020 — early 2022). Outside this timeframe, the public image of the sector was shaped by hacks, speculation, and low practical value for the mass user.

He paid particular attention to stablecoins. In his view, Ethereum effectively scales recognized forms of money — primarily dollar tokens. The volume of “stablecoins” on the network grew from $3 billion in 2020 to over $160 billion. However, this success rather strengthens “dollar hegemony” than the position of the second-largest cryptocurrency as an independent monetary asset.

Selling the Asset Is Not Abandoning the Network

Hoffman specifically highlighted that realizing profits in Ethereum does not indicate a bearish stance towards the ecosystem.

“I remain incredibly optimistic about the Ethereum network and its ecosystem,” he concluded.

The Bankless co-founder explained that he has reallocated capital to other market opportunities. At present, he sees no basis for a significant change in the valuation of the leading altcoin in either direction.

In May, macro analyst Jordi Visser increased his position in Ethereum, calling the asset “fuel” for AI agents.