Ethereum

Just as falling compute costs unlocked the internet boom, lower transaction fees will unlock new application categories and use cases. The main comparison here is that general-purpose compute and coordination layers are more akin to AWS or Linux than HTTP. Ethereum and Solana are not simply “settling” transactions, but enabling programmable state c... See more

The end goal for Ethereum is to become the financial layer for global coordination.

There exists no meaningful technical barrier between BTC vs. the field. Most other networks are obviously even technically more advanced. But we’re focused on the dollars and cents outcome here. Will any of these other assets be used in a similar manner over time as BTC, justifying valuations far in excess of their intrinsic value from producing in... See more

In a traditional rollup, users send their transactions to a dedicated sequencer — essentially a single machine operated by the rollup team. This sequencer is responsible for collecting user transactions, determining their sequence, and packaging them into blocks that are posted on Ethereum.

It seems obvious that applications, not general-purpose networks, will capture the majority of cash flows generated in these systems over the long-run. This is already playing out. Apps have all of the leverage and pricing power with the end-customer. There’s still a big question though – how much MEV leakage will these apps leave around for the ch... See more

Interestingly, Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap is implicitly a gambit in this direction. ETH is sacrificing REV to its L2s rather than capturing it all to itself, in return for spreading the moneyness of ETH the asset. It’s unclear if its L2s will win out, or if they’ll continue to aggressively use and spread ETH in the future, but it’s clearly t... See more

PoS – Imagine a PoS network with 1mm validators, costing $100mm p.a. to run. Users pay $200mm p.a. in REV, and the chain issues $800mm in tokens p.a. to stakers. Operators take a 10% cut on TEV ($100mm here). The “profit = fees – issuance” proponents will say this is unsustainable: $200mm fees – $800mm issuance = $600mm loss! This doesn’t hold up.

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Based rollups use the L1 for consensus, data availability, and settlement layers, while handling execution independently.

Bitcoin is special. It was the first, and it’s still the most decentralized, credibly neutral, predictable, and reliable network. No other network can match its story, and perhaps no other will match these features.

Also, unlike most of its peers here, BTC makes no attempt to be a productive capital asset. Now, that may sound like a weakness at firs... See more