Leaving the crypto "Dark Ages": Breaking Out of P/E Thinking and Revaluing $ETH and $fxUSD

Vitalik Buterin has reignited the debate over ether's valuation by arguing that $ETH should be framed primarily as a store-of-value asset rather than a fee-burn token, saying its core moat is decentralization and CROPS-aligned credibility even if fee burn stays below 10% of breakeven. The piece argues crypto has been stuck in a post-2022 "dark age" since the Fed's rate hikes and the Luna and FTX collapses pushed the industry toward "real yield" cash-flow models and traditional P/E-style valuation of $ETH, a framework the author rejects as ill-suited to a monetary network. Instead, the author contends $ETH is the economic layer for an internet-and-AI-driven "hive mind" serving billions of humans and AI agents, and should ultimately command a market cap rivaling gold's $28.52 trillion rather than being benchmarked against Apple or Microsoft. The second thread centers on Aladdin DAO's decentralized stablecoin $fxUSD, which the author maps against the CROPS principles—censorship resistance, zero-cost private transfers and zero-interest leverage—as a Hayekian alternative to government-issued money. The article ties the two together by positioning decentralized stablecoins as complementary to ether within the same monetary stack. What to watch next is whether the store-of-value framing gains traction in how the market values $ETH and whether $fxUSD's design attracts real usage.