What Is Ethereum Worth? With Kevin Mills

In this deep dive episode, Kevin Mills from Triton Liquid Fund joins us to examine the fundamental value of Ethereum through multiple analytical frameworks. Building on John Pfeifer's influential 2017 paper, Kevin explores cash flow models, equation of exchange, and the internet bond theory to assess ETH's true value. The conversation challenges popular narratives around monetary premium and questions traditional valuation approaches in crypto markets. Essential listening for anyone interested in crypto asset valuation fundamentals.

Read the paper: https://whatisethereumworth.com/

🐦Follow our guests on Twitter: @__kfm__

📝Quick notes & topics:

• ETH cash flow valuation challenges

• Value capture vs value creation

• L2 impact on ETH economics

• Monetary premium limitations

• Application layer value capture

• Protocol value extraction limits

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

01:39 Kevin bio

04:26 Original paper overview

08:19 Valuation methods

11:51 Denominating in ETH

13:17 Issuance rate / cash flow

18:26 Equation of exchange

29:41 Internet bond

33:41 Working capital theory

37:16 Carrying cost of capital

41:18 Counter arguments: Ultra Sound Money

47:14 Premium block space

55:20 Bimetalic history

58:39 Likely outcomes

1:03:06 The utility path to zero

1:05:08 App layer thesis

1:09:11 RIP Fat Protocol Thesis

1:11:08 Value capture mechanisms

1:15:16 Solana's got the same problems

👋 The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs is building Atlas, the blockchain purpose-built for verifiable finance. You may know of Ellipsis Labs by their first product Phoenix, a fully on-chain orderbook DEX that’s done over 50 billion dollars in unincentivized volume. They are one of the strongest teams I know in crypto. If you’re interested in working for a mission-driven company, Ellipsis Labs is hiring engineers passionate about crypto and finance to work on Atlas. You can learn more and apply on Ellipsis Labs’ Twitter “at Ellipsis_Labs”. Don’t forget to check out Atlas too, @atlasxyz on Twitter.

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