TL;DR:
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an analysis arguing that ether (ETH) should prioritize its role as a store of value over the token narrative centered on fee burning.
- Network data reflects a significant drop in fee burning, falling from 1.48 million ETH burned in 2022 to approximately 19,200 ETH so far in 2026.
- According to Buterin’s statements, focusing the protocol’s economics on maximizing the burn required a model incompatible with decentralization and censorship resistance.
Vitalik Buterin presented an evaluation on Monday regarding the economic direction of the network, where he asserts that both Ethereum and its native asset must primarily focus on the store of value function rather than relying on the massive burning of fees. The developer’s proposal comes after a stage marked by the drastic decrease in token destruction through the mechanism implemented in the EIP-1559 upgrade.
Expanding on why I believe "ETH as store of value (SoV)" makes much more sense to focus on than "ETH as fee-burning token".
Three primary reasons:
1. ETH as fee-burning token never was as strong as it seemed
2. Optimizing for ETH as fee-burning token would demand Ethereum and…— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 8, 2026
In a post on his X account, Buterin indicated that the narrative of the deflationary token or “ultra-sound money” never possessed the structural soundness it appeared to have in earlier stages. On the other hand, it was disseminated across the network that the burning figures dropped from 1.48 million ETH recorded throughout 2022 to nearly 19,200 ETH accumulated in 2026. This retreat responds directly to lower activity in base fees and the operational rise of Layer 2 (L2) networks.
The technical analysis shared by the developer warns that designing protocol incentives under the exclusive premise of maximizing token destruction would entail adverse effects on the base architecture of the network. According to the documented perspective, pursuing that goal would require a heavily interventionist governance scheme. Likewise, it is exposed that artificially raising gas fees to boost the burn would end up displacing users who demand high levels of privacy and security in their daily operations.
Implications for long-term stability and security
Facing the fee revenue model, the co-founder of the network emphasizes that Ethereum’s fundamental value lies in its essential strengths: decentralization and attributes of censorship resistance, open source, privacy, and security. In accordance with the expressed stance, in a macroeconomic and technological scenario crossed by the disruption of artificial intelligence, structural stability will become a highly valued asset.
Among the technical priorities pointed out to consolidate this approach are the adoption of conservative security oriented toward post-quantum cryptography, the evolution toward partial ossification of the main protocol, and the deployment of advanced tools for private and decentralized custody. Additionally, the promotion of mechanisms such as fork-choice enforced inclusion lists (FOCIL) is valued to guarantee neutrality in transaction inclusion.
The debate over the positioning of ether unfolds in a context where the price of the crypto asset stood close to $2,236 dollars, reflecting a market capitalization close to $273,000 million at the close of last week. The roadmap outlined by the core developers will continue to evaluate these technical guidelines in the upcoming protocol upgrade cycles.
