VanEck’s Matthew Sigel Defends Ethereum’s Strong Utility Despite Bearish Market

• VanEck’s Matthew Sigel defends Ethereum’s economic model, emphasizing its role in DeFi and blockchain applications despite bearish market sentiment.
• Ethereum faces challenges from weak ETF demand but its focus on data availability could drive future growth.
• Despite current price struggles, analysts remain optimistic about Ethereum’s long-term value based on its strong utility and economic activity.

While Ethereum continues to trade lower and critics take to social media to question its performance, VanEck’s head of digital assets, Matthew Sigel, has pointed to its ‘robust’ economic architecture. Sigel has rebutted the negativity about Ethereum by stating that the coin has a purpose in terms of function as well as its position within the DeFi area instead of focusing on short-term fluctuations.

Ethereum’s Economic Strength

Matthew Sigel emphasized Ethereum’s crucial role in decentralized finance and blockchain applications, stating that blockchain’s primary value is transaction fees, driving services like DeFi. He dismissed criticism as intellectually dishonest and urged evaluation based on its versatility and credibility. 

Sigel compared Ethereum’s valuation to conventional Wall Street templates and argued that it is moneyness,’ a store of value, medium of exchange, and unit of account. The increase in blockchain-related economic activity indicates further development.

Bearish Sentiment in the Market

Ethereum’s price has been affected by several factors, including weak demand for Ether ETFs and broader market challenges. According to market data, Ethereum is trading at $2,298.64

, down by 0.92%. The market has seen outflows of over $500 million since the launch of spot Ether ETFs in July 2024. However, despite these bearish signals, analysts believe that Ethereum’s strong utility and economic activity could drive long-term value

Challenges and Layer-2 Impact

However, Sigel did not avoid talking about the problems that Ethereum has despite his confidence in the growth of Ethereum’s fundamentals. He pointed out that Layer-2 solutions are now becoming popular since they are expected to help manage traffic on Ethereum. These solutions are taking a percentage of the transaction fees cutting the potential income for Ethereum. But Sigel looks at a silver lining where Ethereum’s emphasis on dav has the potential to be an important growth factor in its development.