Whats up down with $ETH? 💰

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I don’t usually focus on prices, but there’s been a lot of chatter lately about Ethereum’s recent dip. The total crypto market cap is still hovering around $2.7 trillion, roughly the same as 123 days ago.

Yet, in that same window, $ETH has fallen by about 40%. So what’s behind the discrepancy?

A lot of people act like they know exactly why prices move the way they do. I’m not going to be that guy. If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you know I’m very bullish on Ethereum. So when I see $ETH underperforming, I can’t help but think the market is being irrational, and that it’s an opportunity.

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That said, being a perma-bull with blinders on is just as bad as being a blind skeptic. I always try to steel-man the other side, so I’ve put together a list of reasons why $ETH might be struggling.

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• Low Market Confidence in Ethereum’s Rollup-Centric Roadmap
  • Some believe rollups add complexity and fragmentation.
  • Blaine's Take: One mega-chain for everything is like saying every financial app needs to be on Wall Street. Some apps (like DEXs) need prime real estate, but most don’t. A rollup-centric roadmap scales by letting apps choose cheaper, specialized space while still settling securely on Ethereum. See here.
• Ethereum Foundation Drama
  • Community calls for leadership changes.
  • Blaine's Take: The Ethereum Foundation did make significant organizational changes in response to community pressure. However, I don’t think that’s where we should be looking for drastic transformation. Culture is hard to change, it’s often easier to start fresh. That’s exactly what Etherealize did. Check out this thread for more details.
• ByBit Hack
  • A major hack involving ByBit led to significant market fears, even though Ethereum itself wasn’t compromised.
  • Blaine's Take: Ethereum was chosen to secure this level of value because it remains the most secure programmable blockchain. Applications like Gnosis Safe have been battle-tested to protect large amounts of assets. Ethereum itself wasn’t hacked.
• Lack of a Strong Narrative
  • Unlike previous cycles (e.g., ICO 2017, DeFi in 2020, NFTs in 2021).
  • Blaine's Take: It’s true that in 2024/2025, Ethereum lacked a strong speculative narrative. The AI agent trend gained traction, but most of these agents chose to transact on cheaper, less secure chains like Solana. That’s not a failure. it’s a reflection of Ethereum’s focus. It’s not chasing short-term hype; it’s building for long-term resilience and adoption.
• Competition from Other Blockchains
  • Solana and other L1s are attracting users by offering lower fees and faster finality, positioning themselves as more user-friendly alternatives.
  • Blaine's Take: Ethereum won’t sacrifice security for short-term gains in speed and transaction costs. The right path forward is scaling through L2 interoperability, and it’s coming in 2025. Check out Optimism’s Superchain interoperability.

@ParaSwap Pay Up! 💸

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Bybit is asking ParaSwap DAO to return 40.203 wETH (~$100k) in fees earned when North Korean hackers used the protocol to launder stolen funds. The debate? Whether ParaSwap should comply or stick to its permissionless, trustless ethos.

If ParaSwap returns the funds, where does it stop? What if my grandma got her Ledger stolen and the thief used ParaSwap, earning them $20 in fees, can she ask for that back too? At what point does a neutral protocol become a gatekeeper?

Some argue this is an ethical decision, an act of industry solidarity. Others say it sets a dangerous precedent. If DAOs start reversing transactions based on external pressure, are they still decentralized?

This isn’t just about $100k. It’s about whether DeFi protocols should act like intermediaries or stick to their core principles. No vote date has been set yet, but this is one to watch.

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References:

• ​Gov Post, dllnews​

Weekly Foundry Commands

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I got stuck in git submodules hell last week, which pushed me to look for a Solidity package manager. Little did I know Foundry had already thought of this. Enter Soldeer.xyz.

Read more about it in the Foundry docs.