David Hoffman sold ETH, not Ethereum
Hoffman sold all of his ETH after years as one of crypto's most vocal Ethereum advocates, but he did not abandon Ethereum itself. His concern is not network activity; it is value capture. He said Ethereum's architecture is creating value for apps, L2s, stablecoins, and the broader onchain ecosystem, while value does not necessarily accrue directly to ETH itself.
At roughly $2,030.94, ETH is being valued against adoption that is already visible. Hoffman's point is that Ethereum has reached its fair price, so another major structural rerating looks less likely to him.
That is why the debate matters now. The bearish case is not only theoretical: total redemptions exceeding $2.4 billion in spot Ethereum ETFs show meaningful sell-side pressure. For now, that has left ETH without a strong new institutional bid.
Ethereum can thrive while ETH lags
Hoffman still expects the network to do well, but he argues only a small part of this success will be reflected in ETH. That shifts the debate from whether Ethereum matters to who actually captures the value the network creates.
Why the valuation case feels stuck
If most of Ethereum's economic benefit flows to protocols and users rather than the native token, ETH starts to look more like a platform holding with weaker monetization than bulls once hoped. That is why Hoffman says Ethereum already has the ETH price it deserves.
What traders should watch
The current price near $2,030.94 fits that view: adoption is visible, but the asset still has to prove it can recapture more of that success. For traders, the key question is whether ETH can build a stronger bid from flows rather than from narrative alone.
ETF flows are the clearest near-term catalyst
Hoffman's value-capture problem could ease if a new buyer keeps absorbing supply. The clearest evidence of that kind of demand is in the ETF tape: U.S. spot ETH ETFs posted a tenth consecutive day of net inflows earlier this year, then more recently logged three straight days of positive net inflows, including a $97.5 million inflow day.
Continuity matters more than one strong session
Bears still have a case because total redemptions exceeding $2.4 billion remain a real overhang. Bulls, though, do not need one standout day. They need repeated ETF demand that keeps pulling ETH off the market. If that continuity shows up, ETH has a clearer path to shaking off the current range-bound pressure.