Ethereum: A Comedy of Errors or a Tragicomedy of Metrics?

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Oh, what a spectacle! A Messari analyst, no less, has stirred the pot, declaring that Ethereum is “dying” as its network revenue took a nosedive in August. 🤦‍♂️

In a post on X, AJC, a Messari research manager, exclaimed, “Ethereum’s fundamentals are collapsing!” Indeed, Ethereum’s revenue from fees in August was a mere $39.2 million, a drop of over 40% year-over-year and about 20% month-over-month. 📉

Yet, many who perused this proclamation found it hard to swallow, pointing to Ethereum’s rising metrics, app revenue, stablecoin supply, and the ongoing L2 scaling. They argue that Ethereum should be seen as a commodity rather than a tech stock, thus not valued based on revenue alone. 🤔

Ethereum is still a vibrant ecosystem

A significant portion of Ethereum’s revenue decline is attributed to the Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which reduced transaction fees for layer-2 scaling networks. But fear not, for Henrik Andersson, the chief investment officer of Apollo Crypto, assures us that Ethereum is far from its deathbed. According to data from Ethereum L2s analytics tool GrowthPie, it remains “a vibrant ecosystem with stablecoin supply, throughput, and active addresses all at or near all-time highs.” 🌟

As of August 30, there were over 552,000 daily active addresses on Ethereum, marking a 21% increase since the same period in 2024, according to YCharts. 📈

“We believe both Ethereum and Bitcoin have a place in a crypto portfolio,” Andersson opined.

“Ethereum is becoming the neutral decentralized base layer for finance, much like Bitcoin is not valued on revenue but as a store of value. We do not believe Ethereum can be valued solely on its revenue.”

However, AJC stood his ground, defending his use of revenue to assess the layer-1 blockchain. He noted that since revenue is collected in Ether (ETH), one of the largest historical demand drivers is now “trending toward zero.” 📉

AJC further contended that active addresses and transactions are “meaningless statistics” when it comes to demand. 🙄

Ethereum has been declared “dead” 40 times this year

Since 2014, Ethereum has been pronounced dead at least 150 times, with 40 such declarations made this year alone, according to Ethereum Obituaries. 🕯️

Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at Merkle Tree Capital, explained to CryptoMoon that Ethereum often faces such proclamations during periods of narrative weakness, falling fees, or when competitors gain the upper hand. However, he believes Ethereum’s robust developer community, established DeFi protocols, and regulatory acceptance grant it more staying power than the obituaries suggest. 🛡️

“In theory, because smart contracts are a competitive sector, developers and capital could slowly but permanently migrate elsewhere. But in practice, Ethereum will likely remain the TradFi chain of choice, though the SOL ETF might shake things up,” McMillin mused.

“The bigger story is that crypto is maturing into an ecosystem of differentiated assets, and Ethereum will remain one of the central pieces for years to come. Competition with other L1s is very healthy.”

McMillin does not think Ethereum is “dying,” but he acknowledges it has been in a “difficult spot” for nearly two years, caught between Bitcoin’s narrative as digital gold and Solana’s pitch as the faster, cheaper alternative. 🚀

“Ethereum’s ultra-sound money framing was never going to win against Bitcoin’s harder monetary premium, and when it comes to throughput and cost, Solana simply offers magnitudes of improvement,” he admitted.

However, Ethereum’s spot exchange-traded funds in 2025 have been a boon, unlocking traditional finance flows and positioning Ether as a leveraged play on stablecoin adoption and network growth, according to McMillin. 🤝

“But that advantage may not last long, as spot Solana ETFs are expected in the coming weeks, which could quickly level the playing field for mainstream capital inflows.”

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2025-09-08 08:34