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Today, enjoy the Empire newsletter on Blockworks.co. Tomorrow, get the news delivered directly to your inbox.\u00a0<\/em>Subscribe to the Empire newsletter<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s hard being ETH right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s struggling to keep up against bitcoin \u2014 ETH is down 33% over the past year when compared to BTC \u2014 and it\u2019s lagging behind the market over the past year too.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you were to just boil ETH down to its ETFs, you\u2019d see an incredibly different tale from the bitcoin ETFs, which not only kicked off the year but quickly smashed records. Ether ETFs, on the other hand, haven\u2019t seen that type of market reception.<\/p>\n (I must caveat here that ETH is very different from BTC in a lot of ways, but for the purpose of the ETF talk, I needed to simplify the two.)<\/p>\n With ETH continuing to struggle, the question on my mind is simple: Where do we go from here?<\/p>\n K33 analyst David Zimmerman told me that he thinks ETH needs to see more positive inflows from the ETFs to kick it up a notch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not necessarily to say that institutional buying will drive up price alone, but rather that this would be necessary to shift ETH sentiment. ETF flows are now the major focus for ETH. ETH ETFs haven\u2019t yet enjoyed the major inflows that BTC ETFs saw (even in relative terms). In my eyes, ETH is an institutional asset now, and the big guns need to show interest first if retail is to hop on board,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n Jordi Alexander, who joined the Empire podcast for an episode<\/a> this week, laid out his bull and bear case for ETH.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEthereum is the place where it can be unleashed into DeFi and lending and all this stuff. And instead of focusing on its own monetary properties, it could try to get Bitcoin bridged in and then just use that you know, trillion of value to to unleash it. I do think that ETH has a chance at some monetary premium, though, and I think that Western countries that are more woke, environmentally friendly, they don\u2019t want the mining,\u201d he told Empire\u2019s Jason Yanowitz.<\/p>\n \u201cYou remember, [Elon Musk] just dumped all his bitcoin because of the mining stuff\u2026 So, there could be a large contingent that wants Ethereum to be like a safer, cleaner form of digital native money. So that\u2019s the bull case, and maybe it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n The bear case, he added, is \u201cjust more dispersion.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of bears, the sentiment on Crypto Twitter, as Yanowitz pointed out in Empire, is that Solana\u2019s eating \u201cETH\u2019s lunch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think that has been the story of this market for a while and I expect it to continue,\u201d Zimmerman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSOL has managed to solidify its place in crypto. I isolate ETH as an institutional asset in its own category, while I consider Solana the leading L1 from \u2018the rest of the pack.\u2019 I no longer really think in terms of \u2018ETH killers\u2019 or \u2018ETH competitors.\u2019 If anything, I am more focused on SOL competitors that can steal attention away from SOL, as SUI has done recently. If bullish momentum continues through Q4, I expect SUI to continue doing well, while the market will likely also rotate through to other L1 coins such as APT,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n SOL, SUI and APT are expected to outperform ETH in a bullish environment, but Zimmerman was careful to add that he still believes ETH can be a good allocation for some folks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHolding it comes with less risk than the rest, and chasing rotations through different L1s can also be tricky and stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n But one comment from Alexander stuck with me. What should Vitalik Buterin\u2019s role be?\u00a0<\/p>\n Alexander suggested that ETH\u2019s code needs to \u201cspeak for itself\u201d which would mean that Buterin should somehow step aside (Alexander has two ideas for him: dissociate or retire).\u00a0<\/p>\n Zimmerman, candidly, said he\u2019s not sure what kind of role Buterin should take but he\u2019s not sold on too much distance given that he does provide \u201creal value\u201d with his knowledge and overall technical expertise.<\/p>\n Putting Buterin aside, until we see more inflows to the ETFs, it\u2019s going to be hard to make Zimmerman a bull.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sorry folks, no ETH szn just yet.<\/p>\n \u2014 Katherine Ross<\/em><\/p>\n Q: <\/em>Permissionless<\/em><\/a> kicks off in just over a week. What are you most excited about?<\/em><\/p>\n While I won\u2019t be in Salt Lake City myself, here\u2019s my list: Bitcoin DeFi, regulation\/politics, and a smattering of vibes.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s the last one that interests me the most. Where are the vibes right now? Where does the wind point these days? Crypto often feels like an industry in search of direction. At least here in the US, so much (feels like it) hinges on the upcoming election season \u2014 for good or for worse, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Events like Permissionless are good for sticking your thumb in the air for a sense of the direction of things. And even though I won\u2019t be physically present, I\u2019m eager for such answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014 Michael McSweeney\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Honestly? The people. The panels are a close second, given the variety of topics that\u2019ll be discussed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, I have to hype one of my own panels (yes, I\u2019m biased here). NFTs: The Comeback, which\u2019ll take place on Friday, October 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n IMO, NFTs are in a really interesting spot right now given the sudden regulatory interest, but still an overall lackluster appetite. The panel includes Luca Netz of Pudgy Penguins, OpenSea\u2019s Devin Finzer and Blur\u2019s Pacman. It should be an interesting conversation, given the three unique perspectives on stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the best part of crypto events hands down is getting to interact with folks who are building, innovating and eager to connect.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re headed to SLC next week, say hi if you see a redhead wandering around the convention center.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014 Katherine Ross<\/em><\/p>\n Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter<\/a> \u2014 market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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