Valuing L1s based only on fees is shortsighted.

If that was the case, $TRX should trade higher than $ETH.

But it's not.

Decentralization (meaning security), dev activity, TVL, ecosystem maturity, tokenomics... all these factors matter.

Opinions that ETH is dumping because fees are dropping as activity shifts to L2s are getting louder.

Standard Chartered cut ETH price forecast from $10k to $4k because fees were outsourced to L2s.

Sure, fees matter, but if they were the only factor, BTC would trade lower than ETH.

But it's not.

For some, ETH is money as pristine and yield-bearing collateral in DeFi (like Maker and Ethena).

For others. ETH serves as a store of value differently from BTC. While BTC hedges against macro instability and money printing, ETH is a store of value in the digital economy. A stable macro environment and fiscal prudence risk BTC but not ETH.

ETH is set to be the go to chain for stablecoin adoption and RWAs. However, I’m struggling to see how this will actually add value to Ether as an asset. Maybe if L2s adopt native roll-ups and have a decentralized sequencer, more fees can flow from L2 back to L1. 

In short, I’m super bullish on the ETH chain, but I’m feeling a bit uncertain about Ether as an asset.