Sharplink CEO: Selling ETH Now Is Like Selling Amazon During the Internet Bubble
- Core View: In response to the recent pessimistic market sentiment towards Ethereum, Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom has voiced strong support, arguing that the Ethereum Foundation is focused on core protocol development and security, and its decentralized nature is precisely the foundation of institutional trust. The current value of ETH is undervalued, akin to Amazon during the internet bubble, presenting a prime opportunity for counter-cyclical investment.
- Key Elements:
- Ethereum leads in trust, security, and liquidity—the attributes institutions value most—handling the majority of global stablecoin settlements and tokenized RWA projects. It serves as the default venue for DeFi transactions.
- Ethereum is the only blockchain to have successfully and consistently launched major upgrades at its base layer for a decade, possessing the industry's most ambitious technical roadmap, including progress toward a quantum-resistant era.
- Ethereum has the largest developer community, but the vast majority are not affiliated with the EF. Decentralization is not a flaw but the key to ensuring underlying properties cannot be altered by a centralized owner.
- ETH's TAM (Total Addressable Market) is the global financial system, not just cryptocurrency trading. Its intrinsic value is closely tied to network expansion (stablecoins, DeFi, smart agent finance).
- During the crypto winter following the FTX collapse, Chalom observed BlackRock doubling down on infrastructure and ecosystems, emphasizing that the smartest investors buy quality assets when the market is fearful.
- The EF will increasingly focus on the CROPS framework (Censorship Resistance, Openness, Privacy, Security), ensuring Ethereum becomes a long-term secure "safe haven technology."
- Ecosystem stakeholders (such as Sharplink, BitMine, Consensys, etc.) must actively voice their support to drive an institutional adoption super-cycle, compensating for the EF's shortcomings in market promotion and leadership.
Original: CEO of Sharplink, Joseph Chalom
Translated by: Qin Xiaofeng of Odaily Planet Daily (@QinXiaofeng 888 )
Editor's Note: This week, former ETH maximalist and Bankless co-founder David Hoffman published an article explaining why he liquidated his ETH holdings, which resonated strongly within the Ethereum community. The article amassed a staggering 1.8 million views on platform X. Amidst the heated discussion, Sharplink (Nasdaq: SBET), the second-largest publicly traded ETH treasury company (Odaily Note: Sharplink's treasury holds approximately 868,000 ETH, valued at nearly $1.8 billion, second only to BitMine), felt compelled to respond.
On May 30, Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom published an article titled "Ethereum Going Back on Offense", attempting to boost confidence among ETH holders. He stated that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is fulfilling its core responsibilities, focusing on the core protocol, security, and decentralization – precisely the foundation of institutional trust. Today's ETH is like Amazon during the dot-com bust, undervalued (Odaily Note: Standard Chartered Bank has made a similar analogy, emphasizing the severe divergence between ETH's fundamentals and its price). Joseph Chalom believes that the current market fear presents a prime opportunity for strategic positioning; all ecosystem participants must actively advocate to drive the institutional adoption super-cycle.
The following is the full text of Joseph Chalom's article, translated by Odaily Planet Daily. Enjoy~
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The current controversies surrounding the Ethereum Foundation (EF) and the noise from ETH price fluctuations obscure the bigger picture. While I understand these discussions, they do not determine who will lead the financial infrastructure of the next decade.
This is the perspective of a stakeholder. Before leading Sharplink, I spent two decades as a senior executive at BlackRock, overseeing fintech businesses and digital asset strategy. These experiences have given me a deep understanding of what institutions truly need before deploying capital into new infrastructure.
I want to set aside the noise and offer a different perspective on where Ethereum stands today and where it is headed.
The Ethereum Foundation is Fulfilling Its Core Responsibilities
Looking back over the past decade, what has been delivered? In attributes most valued by institutional adoption—trust, security, and liquidity—Ethereum is far ahead. It is winning, and by a significant margin.
Look at the data: Ethereum settles the majority of global stablecoin value; hosts more tokenized real-world asset projects than any other blockchain; and serves as the default venue for high-value DeFi transactions. In these dimensions, competitors can only look on from afar.
This is no accident. It is the result of years of rigorous protocol development by the Ethereum Foundation (EF). Ethereum is the only blockchain that has successfully delivered major upgrades at the base layer for a decade straight: The Merge, EIP-1559, Dencun, Pectra, Fusaka. The upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade will deliver step-change improvements in scalability, while the EF is leading the industry towards the post-quantum era. This is the most ambitious technical roadmap in the entire industry.
Decentralization is a Feature, Not a Bug
Some of the harshest criticisms of the EF view decentralization as a weakness. This logic completely inverts institutional logic. The Ethereum ecosystem has the most developers of any blockchain—and the vast majority of these developers do not belong to the EF.
No foundation should have complete control over a blockchain. Institutions will not lock themselves into proprietary systems just to migrate from one to another. They need assurance that the underlying properties they rely on cannot be arbitrarily changed by a centralized owner. In fact, no blockchain should depend on a single entity.
Ethereum's trusted neutrality and decentralization are precisely what make it the future financial settlement layer. These are not flaws.
Between a foundation focused on security, privacy, post-quantum resilience, and the core protocol, and one optimized for short-term marketing, I would choose the former every time.
ETH's Value is Analogous to Amazon
History is replete with examples where fundamental innovations were dismissed by critics chasing trendier newcomers, only for the pessimists to be proven wrong. Amazon is the quintessential example.
Early on, the market consensus was that Amazon was just a loss-making online bookstore propped up by the dot-com bubble. Short-sellers focused only on its profit and loss statement, ignoring Bezos's long-term vision—he was building a new e-commerce market structure. Its total addressable market (TAM) was never book sales but the entire retail economy, later expanding to cloud computing and media. Analysts fixated on Amazon's short-term stock price missed the bigger opportunity.
Today, Ethereum and ETH are in a similar position. Its TAM is not crypto trading, but the entire global financial system. The intrinsic value of ETH is intrinsically linked to the expansion of the network. And the Ethereum network is at an inflection point for exponential growth in transaction volume, covering stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, DeFi, and the emerging wave of agentic finance. To secure this immense transaction volume, Ethereum will become a highly demanded incentive layer and ultimate trust infrastructure, increasing its monetary premium accordingly.
There is no Ethereum without ETH. The asset and the network are inseparable.
When Others Capitulate, It's Time to Profit
In almost every market cycle, the moment when retail capitulates and sentiment hits rock bottom is precisely the time for disciplined capital to enter and position itself. Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway by buying high-quality assets during periods of maximum pessimism—from GEICO in the 1970s to Bank of America and Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crisis.
For most of the past year, the Fear & Greed Index has reflected extreme fear in the market. The smartest investors buy quality assets when the market is most fearful. They invest counter-cyclically, not pro-cyclically.
During the crypto winter following the FTX collapse, most institutions steered clear of Bitcoin and ETH exposure or shelved product launches. At BlackRock, I was part of a team that did the opposite. We doubled down, investing in infrastructure, building ecosystem partnerships, and launching products that bridged traditional finance and the crypto world.
We can all learn a great deal from Buffett and BlackRock.
Ethereum Needs New Voices
The EF is fulfilling its core responsibilities. Going forward, it will focus even more on CROPS. (Odaily Note: CROPS is an internal framework prioritizing censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security. This shift means the Ethereum Foundation will focus on making Ethereum a 'safe harbor technology,' prioritizing fundamental, long-term protocol security, user privacy, and resistance to censorship/control, rather than pursuing aggressive scaling and raw speed).
For most people, it's clear that the current problem lies in go-to-market leadership; simultaneously, institutions widely express a desire to adopt Ethereum. I strongly believe that ecosystem stakeholders and participants need to play a greater role in Ethereum's narrative and institutional adoption.
Since last summer, digital asset treasury companies and core Ethereum custodians have played a significant role in this regard. This includes Sharplink, Tom Lee from BitMine, Joe Lubin from Consensys, Etherealize, Nethermind, Aave, Morpho, the EEA, and other ecosystem stakeholders. We also work closely with the small team within the EF dedicated to institutional education and adoption.
Sharplink is actively investing in this ecosystem. We were the first company to stake billions of dollars in ETH capital and deployed hundreds of millions into high-quality DeFi protocols. We recently announced the launch of a $125 million DeFi yield fund with Galaxy Digital to provide capital to both existing and emerging protocols.
That said, we can—and will—do more, actively advocating for Ethereum and proactively supporting the upcoming institutional adoption super-cycle.
The future of Ethereum is happening right now.
Recommended Reading:
"Bankless Founder Liquidates ETH, Collective Faith in Ethereum Shatters"
