Core Viewpoint - Andrew Kang criticizes Tom Lee's Ethereum thesis, labeling it as financially illiterate and flawed, particularly regarding the reliance on stablecoin and real-world asset adoption to drive Ethereum's value Group 1: Critique of Ethereum's Value Drivers - Kang argues that despite a 100-1000x increase in tokenized asset value and stablecoin transaction volumes since 2020, Ethereum's fees remain unchanged, indicating a disconnect between asset tokenization and fee generation [1] - The migration of activity to other chains like Solana and Arbitrum has further diminished Ethereum's transaction efficiency [1] - Tokenizing low-velocity assets does not contribute significantly to Ethereum's fee structure, limiting its value growth potential [2] Group 2: Misguided Analogies - Kang dismisses Lee's comparison of Ethereum to "digital oil," asserting that oil is a commodity with stable pricing over time, which does not support a bullish outlook for Ethereum [3] - The analogy fails to recognize that if Ethereum is treated as a commodity, it does not inherently suggest a positive valuation trajectory [3] Group 3: Institutional Adoption Concerns - Kang highlights the absence of large financial institutions purchasing or planning to purchase Ethereum, questioning the feasibility of institutions holding ETH for operational purposes [4] - He compares the expectation of institutions holding ETH to banks hoarding gasoline, emphasizing that they only pay for energy as needed [4] Group 4: Valuation and Technical Analysis - Kang criticizes Lee's assertion that Ethereum could be valued as highly as all financial infrastructure companies combined, labeling it as a fundamental misunderstanding of value accrual [5] - While acknowledging the utility of technical analysis, Kang accuses Lee of misapplying it to support his biases [5] Group 5: Overall Valuation Concerns - Kang concludes that Ethereum's current valuation is sustained by "financial illiteracy," likening it to XRP's inflated market cap [6] - He suggests that unless significant organizational changes occur, Ethereum is likely to experience prolonged underperformance [6]