Bankless Co-Founder David Hoffman Sells Ethereum Holdings

David Hoffman, co-founder of Bankless, sold his Ethereum holdings and posted an exit note on May 26, 2026, arguing the “ETH is money” thesis has fully played out. He framed the decision as requiring a detailed explanation given his long history with the network.

Hoffman wrote that the thesis depended on every layer of the Ethereum ecosystem outperforming rival chains and that the standard was not met. He wrote that he remains supportive of the Ethereum protocol while expressing doubt that ETH will structurally rerate as an asset because much of the protocol’s value is captured by layer-2 networks and applications rather than the base-layer token. In his post he added, “I built my career, community, and business on Ethereum, so the decision to sell deserves a deeper explanation.”

On-chain metrics cited alongside his sale show weaker base-layer activity. Daily active Ethereum addresses fell from above 1.5 million in January to about 544,000 by late May, according to Santiment data. Ether’s market price moved from above $3,400 in December 2025 to roughly $1,975 at the time Hoffman published his note, a decline of about 14% over the previous month.

ETH balances held on exchanges also shifted this year. Exchange-held ETH dropped from roughly 8.5 million in late January to about 7 million through April, then rose back to roughly 7.5 million in May. The rise in exchange supply overlapped with Ether’s decline below $2,140 in mid-May.

Technical indicators on the daily chart show Ether trading inside a descending parallel channel since late April. Price was rejected near the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement at $2,382 in early May and lost the 0.236 retracement at $2,140 in mid-May. Ether was trading near $1,978 and moving toward the channel’s lower band, with visible support near $1,920. A drop below that level would put the prior swing low near $1,750 into view. Trading volume has declined since February and the 14-day relative strength index was near 30 at the time of the note.

Hoffman referenced examples he says support his view, including Solana’s 2024 price rerating and NEAR’s 2026 performance, which he linked to fee market share. He also noted that Ethereum now settles about $163 billion in stablecoins, up from roughly $3 billion in 2020.

Hoffman set specific technical thresholds that would change his position. He wrote that a daily close reclaiming $2,140 and a subsequent push through $2,382 would reopen the argument for a sustained bullish case. His sale drew attention because of his role as a long-standing Ethereum advocate and because he provided a public explanation for his exit.