ARK Invest digital assets research director Lorenzo Valente raised five questions about Vitalik Buterin’s recent store-of-value view of Ether (ETH), including whether Ethereum’s monetary policy can fund network security.
Valente said the view may mark the biggest change in ETH’s value narrative since the Ultrasound Money framing. He also said the market had not discussed the shift enough.
One question is whether Ethereum will rely on continued issuance to meet its long-term security budget, and whether investors seeking a store of value would accept lasting inflation. ETH has no fixed supply cap, and its issuance path remains open to debate. Valente said a defined monetary policy and minimum issuance level may be needed to establish that role.
Valente also questioned whether issuing real-world assets on Ethereum’s mainnet fits with a more conservative layer-1 strategy. He said issuers prioritize users, liquidity and performance, raising the question of why they would choose mainnet over a layer-2 network if mainnet development stalls.
He described store-of-value status as social consensus built over time and asked what measurable indicators could show ETH competing with Bitcoin (BTC). Valente also argued that if long-term survival is the leading test, Ethereum’s move to post-quantum security should be a priority rather than an ordinary roadmap item, with a clear timeline.
Enna Lee
Enna Lee reports on investing and digital-asset markets for TokenPost. Send corrections or tips to [email protected].
