Original｜Odaily Planet Daily（@OdailyChina）

Author｜Wenser（@wenser2010）

ETH is facing a "crisis of faith" once again. This time, the catalyst is the crypto media outlet that has been rallying for Ethereum—Bankless. Co-founder David Hoffman proactively posted that he has "sold his last ETH." Community user @Ox_Lucas also revealed that Bankless recently allegedly laid off most team members. Undoubtedly, "the loyal E sentinels have reached their exit moment."

In 2026, the wave of tokenization in U.S. stocks arrives, and crypto ETF assets have become standard for institutions. This should have been Ethereum's shining moment, but the debunked L2 route, the wave of departures from the foundation's upper management, and the reality of ETH's price following the downtrend but not rising make its survival quite awkward.

David Hoffman's liquidation may just be the beginning of the "E sentinels' exit."

Co-founders retreat to the background, Bankless enters the second phase of development

Perhaps newcomers are not very familiar with Bankless. Since its establishment in 2020, it has been the "voice of the Ethereum ecosystem." The Bankless DAO founded based on this media was once the "first community of DAO organizations." However, now, Bankless has concluded its "first phase" of development and must embrace its second phase.

After David Hoffman publicly mentioned liquidating his ETH, another co-founder, Ryan Sean Adams, promptly posted: "It's time to go public. The first era of Bankless has ended. This has been a six-year collaboration for David and me to explore cryptocurrencies, DeFi, and Ethereum supremacy. We are now in the second era.

In this era, I plan to retreat to the background and support David in exploring new frontiers in cryptocurrency and other areas. I will still host the podcast weekly (I won't miss any summarizing meetings), but my role regarding content direction and guest interviews will decrease. David continues to steer the ship, and I fully support him. Personally, I still have faith in ETH and Bankless.”

Today, six years after its establishment, Bankless has achieved remarkable results: aside from interviews with well-known figures like Vitalik, Chris Dixon, and Hayden Adams, this media has amassed 280,000 subscribers on YouTube, with Newsletter subscriptions reaching as many as 350,000 readers; its Podcast has received high ratings of 4.7 on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcast, and it has been listed in several media outlets' "Top 10 Best Crypto Podcasts," with many referring to it as the "ultimate guide to Web3 education."

But now, David Hoffman's dissatisfaction is evident, even going as far as to express it through his "liquidation of ETH," with his criticism aimed directly at the current Ethereum Foundation.

"When the most loyal E sentinels decide to liquidate ETH": Bankless co-founder lashes out at the Ethereum Foundation

After David Hoffman’s post, it quickly sparked heated discussions in the Ethereum community, with sometaunting him that "leaving the Ethereum ecosystem periodically and coming back" is a recurring segment, "he is a seasonal barometer," and that when he turns bullish on ETH again, it will be time to heed caution as the market reaches its peak.

David Hoffman responded directly: "I always support the Ethereum blockchain network, but ETH assets are becoming increasingly questionable; we shouldn’t confuse the two."

Then, a community member pointed out directly: "Are you supporting ETH but doubting the Ethereum Foundation?"

David Hoffman’s answer was clear-cut: "Unfortunately, you cannot separate the price performance of ETH from its leadership." His dissatisfaction with the Ethereum Foundation as the "leader of the ecosystem" was apparent.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time David Hoffman has expressed dissatisfaction with the Ethereum Foundation:

• Last April, when the ETH price fell below $1500, he openly stated that "the leadership and culture of Ethereum are driving away users and developers";
• In October, the departure of Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist also prompted him to voice concerns about the brain drain from the Ethereum ecosystem;
• In March this year, he went so far as to criticize the Ethereum Foundation in his article "The EF's Endless Manifestos" for not working towards the market expansion of Ethereum.

It seems that David Hoffman’s attitude towards ETH and the Ethereum Foundation has long shifted from "sorrow for its lack of competition, anger for its misfortune" to "the greatest sorrow is death in the heart."

On another note, it is naturally also ETH and the Ethereum Foundation's own "underperformance."

According to Coinglass data, the ETH/BTC exchange rate plummeted to 0.02835 on May 12, reaching the lowest level since July 2025, which is a drop of more than 35% from the August 2025 high of 0.04324.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation is also experiencing a wave of departures: on May 19, Ethereum Foundation researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma officially announced their resignations. The former had been with the organization for seven years, while the latter had worked at the Ethereum Foundation for four years, accompanying it through countless days and nights.

Prior to this, several executives and researchers from the Ethereum Foundation had already left, including co-executive director Tomasz K. Stańczak who left in February, Josh Stark who departed in March, and Protocol team leads Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Alex Stokes, who recently announced their resignations earlier this month. This year, at least eight high-level departures from the Ethereum Foundation have been documented.

What’s absurd is that the main reason for these individuals leaving was the absurdity of the Ethereum Foundation requiring employees to sign loyalty oaths, which is somewhat laughable.

Alongside the prior incidents where the Ethereum Foundation sold ETH continually through both bullish and bearish markets, even engaging in off-market OTC trades with Ethereum DAT treasury company Bitmine, it can be said that this organization has lost its "last bit of basic support." With internal talent loss and external competition weakness, the future of the Ethereum Foundation looks gloomier than that of Bankless.

After DAT, what is Ethereum's next solution?

Last April, after attending an offline event at ETH Hangzhou, I wrote an article based on interviews titled "ETH Hangzhou On-site Investigation: Ethereum Has Entered Midlife, No Hope for New Highs in Three Years." At that time, the ETH price was also struggling at the breakeven point, with countless people not holding out much hope for its future performance. However, with the DAT craze in June and July, purchases from listed companies like Bitmine and Sharplink still raised the ETH price high point to nearly $5000.

Now, the ETH price has more than halved compared to its peak, and the difference is that people no longer view Ethereum as the "only answer to new financial infrastructure," the L2 route has also been completely debunked, and Hyperliquid has become the new "on-chain infrastructure." What will be the next solution for ETH and Ethereum? No one can provide an accurate answer.

In contrast to the past where token prices fell but ecological development flourished, perhaps the currently silent Ethereum ecosystem is even more despairing. David Hoffman’s liquidation of ETH may also come with his own grievances, but the fact that he has drifted further away from the Ethereum ecosystem has become undeniable.

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