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ETH as “Digital Oil” with Multifunctionality
According to a report by The Block, Vivek Raman, co-founder of Etherealize, stated in an interview: “This is a completely new asset class, and blockchain is a new technology. We can no longer apply old valuation methods to new assets. If we only view it as a tech stock, we are fundamentally underestimating its potential.”
The report points out that comparing ETH with global reserve assets such as oil, the bond market, and M2 money supply would better reflect its ultimate potential. Vivek Raman said, “Once Ethereum is adopted globally, its scale could be as large as or even larger than the internet.”
The report argues that ETH is not just a token, but the infrastructure of the entire on-chain economy: it serves as collateral, computational fuel, and yield instruments, and is widely held, staked, burned, and utilized.
Currently, Ethereum occupies the vast majority of market share in on-chain applications such as stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA), with over 80% of tokenized assets issued on Ethereum, amounting to a total value of approximately $767 billion.
Inflation Rate Lower Than Bitcoin, Supply Structure Tightening
Since the EIP-1559 upgrade in 2021, Ethereum has implemented a token burning mechanism, theoretically lowering the total issuance rate cap to 1.51%. According to data from Vivek Raman, the actual inflation rate has been as low as 0.092% since September 2022, far below that of Bitcoin and fiat currencies.
Raman noted: “Once you understand that the supply of Ether is suppressed and controllable, coupled with increasing on-chain activity, the actual issuance could even turn negative. This presents a rare and asymmetric opportunity.”
The Potential and Challenges of ETH as a Reserve Asset
The report suggests that ETH’s short-term price potential could reach $8,000; viewed from the perspective of global reserve assets, its long-term value could even challenge $80,000 or higher. If valued against global reserve assets like oil, its long-term reasonable price could be as high as $740,000 per Ether.
More and more investment institutions are beginning to “stockpile” Ether. For example, the Strategic ETH Reserve, supported by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, has accumulated approximately $2 billion worth of ETH, and many large DAOs and DApp ecosystems have amassed significant ETH reserves.
However, despite ETH’s strong value proposition, there remains a challenge of “narrative lag.” Compared to Bitcoin, which has been recognized by mainstream institutions as “digital gold,” ETH’s positioning has not yet been fully accepted.
Notable commentator and DBA co-founder Jon Charbonneau, although a bullish advocate of ETH, believes the current price is still too high and does not recommend holding it. He pointed out that while ETH is strong, its valuation has not yet provided sufficient convincing power to support the narrative of being a “reserve asset.”