On June 19, 2025, when Ethereum’s figurehead Vitalik Buterin replaced the original oil barrel icon representing “digital oil” with a cartoon image of a “bull” on social media, it was not a random doodle. This seemingly minor action was more like a carefully planned declaration of value, a profound reshaping of the logic of the Ethereum bull run. It suggests that today, as spot ETFs roll out the red carpet for Wall Street, the story of Ethereum is transcending the somewhat outdated metaphor of “digital world fuel,” evolving into a grander, more solid, and more complex value paradigm.

What Buterin forwarded and “edited” is a discussion about the three core values of Ethereum - “digital oil”, “store of value”, and “global reserve asset”. These three concepts have long been familiar melodies to the community, but when they are juxtaposed by this founder in a brand new visual language, their internal tension and synergistic effect emerge with unprecedented clarity. This “bull” is no longer a symbol of a single narrative, but rather an economic behemoth forged by the combined strength of the three pillars. This article aims to deeply deconstruct this emerging new paradigm, exploring the profound and subtle changes that have occurred in the foundation of its value as Ethereum moves towards becoming a mainstream asset.

From “Digital Oil” to “Economic Heart”: Value Reassessment in the L2 Era

Ethereum, as the narrative of “digital oil,” is its earliest and most successful value positioning. This metaphor intuitively explains the fundamental use of ETH: as the fuel (Gas) that drives the operation of the world’s largest smart contract platform. Every transfer, every DeFi interaction, and every NFT minting requires the consumption of ETH. This indispensable practicality has built a solid demand foundation for ETH. In the past, network congestion and high Gas fees were even seen as manifestations of network prosperity, directly linked to the value capture of ETH.

However, as we enter 2025, this classic narrative is facing a profound challenge triggered by Ethereum’s own success. The Dencun upgrade in March 2024, especially the implementation of EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding), has completely changed the game. By providing a dedicated and cost-effective data publishing channel (Blobs) for Layer 2 (L2) networks, Ethereum has successfully “outsourced” a large volume of transaction activity to scaling solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism. This is undoubtedly a significant technological victory, realizing the grand blueprint of enabling ordinary users to participate in the digital economy at an extremely low cost. However, it has also brought about a sharp economic paradox: as the vast majority of economic activities migrate to inexpensive L2, the congestion level of the mainnet (L1) has sharply decreased, directly leading to a collapse in Gas fees and a significant reduction in ETH burn.

According to data from Dune Analytics, since the Dencun upgrade, the average Gas price of Ethereum L1 has remained in the single digits of Gwei for a long time, which has been unimaginable in the past few years. The reduction in fees means that the amount of ETH being burned through the EIP-1559 mechanism has also shrunk. This directly impacts the core logic of the “digital oil” narrative - the positive correlation between network usage and value capture (deflation). If the consumption of “oil” is structurally decreasing, how should we assess its value?

This is precisely the key to the shift in value paradigm. The new cognitive framework considers that the value of ETH is no longer merely reflected as the fuel ‘consumed’ on L1, but has been elevated to the ‘economic heart’ that ensures the security of the entire modular ecosystem. Ethereum L1 is transitioning from a crowded ‘world computer’ to a highly secure ‘global settlement and security layer’. Its core mission is to provide finality and data availability guarantees for hundreds of L2s. The L2s handle a massive amount of transactions and then submit the compressed ‘proofs’ back to L1 for final confirmation.

In this new model, the value capture mechanism of ETH has become more indirect, but possibly also more stable. Its value no longer primarily comes from transaction friction, but rather from its role as a security provider’s “rent.” Although the fees paid by individual L2s to L1 have decreased, the total scale of this “rent” remains considerable with the emergence of thousands of L2s in the future. More importantly, the security of the entire ecosystem relies entirely on the total value of ETH staked on L1. A modular ecosystem with trillions of dollars in economic activity must be protected by a security layer of an equally large scale, if not larger. Therefore, the demand for ETH has shifted from “transactional demand” to “security demand.” It is no longer gasoline, but rather the concrete that supports the entire interstate highway system (all L2s), with its value positively correlated to the total economic flow of the highway network (the TVL and activity of all L2s). This transition liberates the value of ETH from short-term fee fluctuations, anchoring it to the longer-term macro growth of the entire ecosystem.

The Rise of “Internet Bonds”: When “Ultrasonic Waves” Fade into Silence

If the narrative of “digital oil” is undergoing a profound self-evolution, then the story of “value storage” is almost being completely rewritten. Once upon a time, “Ultrasound Money” was the slogan that the community was most proud of. Under the dual impact of “The Merge” significantly reducing the new issuance and EIP-1559 continuously burning fees, ETH entered a state of net deflation for a time, being hailed as a more “sound” asset than Bitcoin’s “sound money”. The continuously fluctuating negative inflation rate on the ultrasound.money website is the core belief of countless investors that ETH can surpass BTC.

However, the L2 paradox mentioned earlier also casts a shadow over this beautiful deflation myth. The reduction in L1 fees has greatly diminished the power of the burning mechanism. Data shows that since the Dencun upgrade, ETH has returned to a state of slight inflation during multiple periods. This makes the slogan of “ultrasound money” seem somewhat awkward and forces the market to seek a more resilient value support.

As a result, the narrative of “The Internet Bond” emerged and quickly became a more attractive story for institutional investors. The core of this concept lies in the fact that through the Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, anyone holding Ether (ETH) can participate in network validation by staking and thus earn stable returns denominated in ETH. By mid-2025, the annualized staking return rate (APR) for Ethereum is expected to stabilize around 3%-4%. This income does not arise out of thin air; it comes from transaction fees (the tip portion) paid by users and the additional ETH rewards issued by the protocol, serving as a reasonable compensation for the services provided by validators in maintaining network security.

This endogenous yield, priced in protocol native assets, makes ETH a productive capital asset. It is no longer just a static commodity waiting for appreciation, but an income-generating asset that can continuously produce “cash flow” (albeit in ETH terms). For traditional financial investors accustomed to dividends and bond interest, this is a model that is very easy to understand and highly attractive. Analysts at VanEck have pointed out that the staking yield of ETH can be seen as the “risk-free rate” in the digital world, and the yields of all DeFi protocols built on Ethereum can be priced based on this.

“The narrative of ‘Internet bonds’ has become stronger due to the boom of liquid staked tokens (LSTs). LSTs like Lido’s stETH and Rocket Pool’s rETH allow ordinary users to earn staking rewards while maintaining the liquidity of their assets. These LSTs are then deeply integrated into every corner of DeFi, serving as collateral and trading pairs, creating the so-called ‘LSTfi’ ecosystem. This forms a powerful value flywheel: ETH is staked in large quantities due to its yield-bearing properties, thereby enhancing the network’s security and decentralization; the resulting LSTs, in turn, become the cornerstone of the DeFi world, further increasing the demand for ETH as the underlying asset.

This narrative shift is crucial. It transforms the value proposition of ETH from a speculative story reliant on network congestion and scarcity expectations into an investment story based on actual economic activity and predictable returns. Even as the deflationary halo of “ultrasound money” fades, as long as the Ethereum ecosystem continues to thrive, its yield attributes as an “internet bond” remain intact. This provides ETH with a solid value base and leaves immense imaginative space for future ETF products—a spot ETF that can directly distribute staking yields to investors will undoubtedly become the nuclear weapon to ignite the next wave of institutional demand.

“Anchor of Trust”: The Ultimate Settlement Layer of the Digital Economy

Regardless of how the metaphor of “oil” evolves or how enticing the returns of “bonds” may be, Ethereum’s third and most solid pillar of value lies in its position as the “trust anchor” of the global digital economy. This role, as a “global reserve asset,” is built on decentralization, security, and unparalleled network effects, making it the most trusted underlying settlement layer in the digital world.

First of all, in the DeFi world, which has reached a scale of hundreds of billions of dollars, ETH is the undisputed king of collateral. In core lending protocols such as Aave and MakerDAO, ETH and its LST derivatives dominate the total amount of collateral. A report from Galaxy Research pointed out that the market trusts ETH because of its deep liquidity, relatively low volatility (compared to other crypto assets), and time-tested security. Users feel secure lending out billions of dollars in stablecoins because they trust that the ETH collateral behind them is solid. This status as the “DeFi central bank reserves” has created immense, sustained, and sticky demand for ETH.

Secondly, Ethereum is the focal point of the global stablecoin ecosystem. Although chains like Tron hold a significant share in USDT issuance, the vast majority of innovations and core stablecoins, such as USDC and DAI, ultimately settle in value on Ethereum. Ethereum carries a stablecoin market value exceeding hundreds of billions of dollars, and these stablecoins constitute the lifeblood of the digital economy, while ETH serves as the vascular system ensuring the safe flow of this lifeblood.

More significantly, traditional financial giants are voting with their feet. When BlackRock chose to launch its first tokenized money market fund BUIDL on Ethereum, it was not the transaction speed or cost of Ethereum that attracted it. On the contrary, it opted for Ethereum’s “diamond-like” trust and security. Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin once said that Ethereum provides a trust “powerful enough to withstand nation-state-level opponents.” This “Lindy effect”—the longer something exists, the more likely it is to continue to exist—that has developed over more than a decade is a moat that no emerging public chain can replicate in the short term. As the wave of tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) rises, Ethereum’s position as the ultimate settlement layer for global value will become increasingly unshakable, and its value as a reserve asset will be continually solidified.

Conclusion: Join forces to create a “bull”, rather than going solo.

Now, let’s turn back to the “bull” that Vitalik sent out. It no longer merely represents the expectations of a bull run, but is a clever summary of the sources of Ethereum’s value. This bull is driven by three forces working together:

It has a strong pulsation of the “economic heart”: as the security cornerstone of the entire modular ecosystem, its value grows in sync with the total scale of an ever-expanding digital economy. It has robust returns of the “internet bond”: inherent staking rewards provide it with a solid value base and a clear valuation model, attracting long-term capital seeking stable returns. It carries the heavy weight of the “anchor of trust”: as the ultimate collateral for DeFi and the settlement layer of global value, it embodies the most precious consensus and trust of the market.

These three pillars do not exist in isolation, but are interdependent and reinforce each other. The strong position of the “trust anchor” attracts the prosperity of DeFi and RWA, driving the growth of the “economic heart”; while the yield-generating ability as “internet bonds” incentivizes massive capital to be staked, providing an unbreakable security guarantee for the entire system.

The argument for the bull run of Ethereum has bid farewell to the era that can be simply summarized in one word (such as “deflation”). It has become more mature, more diverse, and more resilient. It no longer relies on a single narrative but has constructed a value matrix that is internally coherent and capable of withstanding external shocks. For institutional investors used to analyzing complex systems, this grand narrative filled with internal tension and synergy may just be beginning to reveal its true charm. The bull that V God has donned symbolizes the arrival of such an era.

Statement:

1. This article is reproduced from [MarsBit] The copyright belongs to the original author [Oliver, Mars Finance] If there are any objections to the reprint, please contact Gate Learn TeamThe team will process it as soon as possible according to the relevant procedures.
2. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not constitute any investment advice.
3. Other language versions of the article are translated by the Gate Learn team, unless otherwise stated.GateUnder such circumstances, it is prohibited to copy, disseminate, or plagiarize translated articles.