Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed in a recent discussion that 90% of his personal wealth is held in Ethereum (ETH).
This statement comes in response to growing speculation that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is continuously selling ETH and discussions within the Ethereum community regarding ETH’s role as a store of value (SoV).
One influencer previously commented that since Ethereum’s inception, Buterin and the core developers have largely avoided publicly framing ETH as a store of value or a programmable fiat currency. The influencer argued that ETH leadership’s hesitation stemmed from an unwillingness to discuss the financial aspects of ETH, especially when regulatory concerns around commodities were more prominent.
The influencer also said that despite the team’s purist stance, ETH’s “monetariness” and importance in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space is clear. “In order for ETH to operate securely in PoS, ETH needs to be a desirable SoV,” they said, referring to Ethereum’s proof-of-stake mechanism.
Responding to these concerns, Buterin made his stance clear: “If I didn’t believe ETH was SoV, I wouldn’t hold ~90% of my net worth in ETH.”
Despite Buterin’s personal dedication to ETH, questions persist regarding the Ethereum Foundation’s periodic sell-off of the asset. Addressing this concern, Buterin gave a blunt response: “The EIP-4844 update alone has saved users over $100 million to date.”
He cited calculations showing that the transaction fee savings achieved by EIP-4844 were approximately $312 million over five months.
*This is not investment advice.