The long-simmering debate about whether the Ethereum network can thrive independently of its native asset, ETH, has flared up again — this time with one of crypto’s most prominent voices drawing a hard line. Ryan Sean Adams, co-founder of the popular Bankless podcast and newsletter, declared on X that without ETH acting as a multi-trillion-dollar global store of value, Ethereum itself is a “failed project.”
Adams’ outburst was aimed squarely at the "Ethereum not ETH" narrative, a viewpoint held by some that one can be bullish on Ethereum’s technology and decentralized applications while remaining skeptical about the investment case for ETH. He called this stance a "mental fallacy," revealing it was the very reason he began writing and podcasting years ago.
"There is no strong Ethereum without an ETH worth trillions," Adams wrote, adding, "Without ETH as a global store of value, Ethereum is a failed project. Full stop." He argued that ETH serves as the "economic bandwidth for DeFi," the only asset optimized for cryptographic property rights (CROPs), and that separating the network from its native asset is "intellectually dishonest." Adams likened the idea to being bullish on America while disregarding the American economy: "They are one and the same – economic engines."
The strong comments exposed a rift between Bankless’s co-founders. David Hoffman, who co-hosts the show with Adams, publicly disagreed with the analogy. "The analogy doesn’t hold. These are two different mediums with different contexts," Hoffman countered, insisting that "there needs to be a mechanism that drives value to ETH." Adams fired back that the mechanism has always been clear — ETH being used as money, a store of value, or a unit of account — and that the pair had covered this on over 100 podcasts.
The dispute took on added weight because Hoffman shocked the community in late May 2026 by announcing he had sold and liquidated the last of his ETH holdings. While Adams has stepped back from some content roles at Bankless, he says he has not sold his own Ethereum and has no plans to do so. The contrasting actions of the two influential voices have fueled fresh uncertainty around ETH’s long-term narrative at a time when the token’s price remains under pressure.
