Ethereum Targeting $17K? Expert Describes ETH as ‘Yield-Generating Digital Gold’

Ryan Sean Adams, a co-founder of Bankless and a long-time supporter of Ethereum (ETH), has sparked new conversations by predicting a price of $17,000 for ETH, which would be nearly nine times its current value.

His reasoning is straightforward: he believes the cryptocurrency has the potential to achieve a $2 trillion market cap by establishing itself as the premier store of value, combining monetary benefits with staking returns, thus becoming what he terms “digital gold with yield.”

The Blue-Money Doctrine

The ambitious $17,000 target gained momentum earlier this year when the analyst Kiu_Coin suggested that Ethereum was experiencing a typical “shakeout,” a severe sell-off meant to purge weaker investors before a sharp price increase. He compared this situation to ETH’s drop in 2020, which was followed by a staggering 1,310% rise in 2021, claiming that the same pattern might be unfolding again.

In a recent post on X, Adams supported this perspective, asserting that Ethereum, as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, could potentially achieve Bitcoin’s $2 trillion valuation while simultaneously providing staking benefits. He argues that Ethereum should follow Bitcoin’s example, adhering to what he calls the “Blue-Money Doctrine.”

“Money is belief expressed as code,” he stated, encouraging ETH supporters to “stake, promote, and criticize anyone who sells.” In his view, “Without ETH, there is no DeFi. Without ETH, cypherpunk ideals are at risk.”

This doctrine repositions ETH beyond merely serving as transaction fees for decentralized applications. Adams contended that Ethereum, in its post-Merge and EIP-1559 iteration, transcends being just programmable money; it is a commodity with intrinsic monetary value backed by tangible yields and deflationary principles.

Supporting this notion is Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, which compared ETH staking returns to yield-generating U.S. Treasury bills, further solidifying its designation as a “digital bond.”

Sam Kazemian, founder of Frax Finance, expressed similar ideas during a recent episode of Bankless, claiming that Ethereum’s main flaw lies not in its technical aspects but in its narrative. He argued that ETH has unintentionally been valued like a discounted cash flow asset rather than being promoted as a valuable commodity.

“Ethereum, the technology, is incredibly promising for crypto,” Kazemian remarked. “But there are issues with how ETH, the asset, is perceived.”

Market Dynamics

As anticipated, Adams’s optimistic forecast has faced skepticism from both Bitcoin purists and critics of Ethereum. Boyd Cohen dismissed the idea of treating ETH as gold, stating that “Bitcoin is genuinely scarce, while Ethereum is not.”

Additionally, John Haar from Swan Bitcoin questioned ETH’s value proposition altogether, asking, “What is the yield generated by users? ETH doesn’t function as money.”

Critics have highlighted the ETH/BTC ratio, emphasizing that Ethereum appears to be losing traction as a monetary asset, particularly after this metric plummeted 77% from its height in December 2021.

Recently, the cryptocurrency has shown a significant recovery. After a tough first quarter and a dip to $1,400 in April, ETH’s value has risen nearly 30%, trading just under $1,800. Despite this rebound, broader trends remain concerning, as the asset is still down 44% year-over-year and 63% below its peak of $4,878.