Vitalik Buterin Pitches ETH as Store of Value After US Midterms

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wants ETH to be positioned as a store of value rather than relying on fee burning to support its valuation. In a thread, Buterin said the idea of “ETH as a fee-burning token” was less compelling than commonly portrayed and argued that optimizing the network around fees could undermine decentralization and capture resistance. He instead pointed to “CROPS”—censorship and capture resistance, open source, privacy and security—as durable sources of value in an era of AI disruption.

Buterin’s comments followed declining fee revenue and renewed debate over Ethereum’s monetary narrative. Following the 2021 EIP-1559 upgrade, ETH briefly entered a deflationary period while network fees were high, prompting supporters to describe it as “ultrasound money.” However, median transaction fees fell from 35 cents in January to 3.5 cents in October as daily transactions increased by more than 50%, weakening the fee-burning argument. Buterin noted that Ethereum’s monetary policy has remained unchanged since the 2022 Merge, with subsequent adjustments reducing rather than increasing issuance.

The proposal drew criticism from Bitcoin advocates, including Held Media founder Dan Held, who accused Ethereum of pivoting toward Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative after earlier positions failed. “It’s wild that you think a protocol with a constantly changing monetary policy, just like fiat, can be sound money,” Held wrote. Others were more supportive. MetaLeX attorney Gabriel Shapiro called the shift a “nature is healing moment,” while Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said Buterin was right that fees cannot be the network’s sole product.

Ethereum’s broader outlook remains uncertain after the US midterm elections and a reported Democratic sweep. Crypto super PACs spent $176 million across 100 races, including $64 million in an unsuccessful attempt to keep Sherrod Brown out of the Senate, highlighting the growing influence of digital-asset companies on electoral politics. The results have left the industry weighing what additional regulation, political scrutiny and market volatility could mean for Ether, Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.