TLDR:
- Lubin says ETH shares gold and Bitcoin’s non-debt monetary design, while offering added network utility.
- Ethereum’s censorship resistance and guaranteed transaction execution form key parts of Lubin’s argument.
- Stablecoins, DeFi, collateral and smart contracts could expand demand for ETH as onchain activity grows.
- Lubin predicts quantum-safe, AI-safe ETH by 2027–28, but provides no technical details for the forecast.
Joseph Lubin argues that ETH could become a stronger store of value as inflation and economic volatility rise. In a post on X, Lubin warned that nation-state currencies and other assets could lose purchasing power during heightened instability.
He described gold and Bitcoin as established stores of value, but argued that ETH offers additional monetary and utility features. These include censorship resistance, programmable transactions, collateral use, and Ethereum’s role in stablecoin activity.
Lubin also predicted that ETH would become quantum-safe and AI-safe money by the end of 2027 or partway through 2028.
Why Lubin Sees ETH as a Store of Value
Lubin’s argument starts with ETH’s monetary design. He said ETH, like gold and Bitcoin, is not debt-based or credit-based money. He also pointed to Ethereum’s resistance to censorship.
According to Lubin, transactions on Ethereum’s layer 1 cannot be blocked. This applies to simple payments and complex decentralized finance applications.
He added that valid transactions are guaranteed to execute, whether they move one dollar or billions. Lubin also said Ethereum is cheap and easy to use at any scale.
Lubin described ETH as disinflationary. He said periods of high network activity can make its supply deflationary. He sees this feature as another reason ETH could preserve value over time.
He further argued that ETH is relatively inexpensive to hold and secure. That could matter to users seeking assets they can store and use across different market conditions. However, these characteristics do not guarantee that ETH’s market price will rise.
Ethereum Utility Could Strengthen ETH’s Monetary Role
Beyond scarcity, Lubin’s thesis depends on Ethereum’s expanding economic activity.
He described ETH as useful across decentralized finance, stablecoins, and smart-contract-based business processes. Ethereum also hosts what he called the bulk of stablecoin activity.
He expects finance and eventually other industries to move more activity onchain. Stablecoins serve as payment money and units of account, while ETH can support applications and collateral arrangements.
Lubin argued that collateral becomes more powerful when the asset backing agreements can grow in value. That remains a thesis, not a guaranteed outcome for borrowers or investors.
He also emphasized programmability, which lets developers attach logic to transactions. Smart contracts can automate agreements, payments, and business processes. Lubin linked this capability to a future economy involving people and machine intelligence.
His post also addressed privacy and transparency. He said Ethereum-based financial instruments can be public or private, while remaining selectively disclosable and auditable. He cited tools including Railgun, stealth addresses, privacy pools, and zero-knowledge proofs.
Lubin expects Ethereum’s base layer and modular layer-2 networks to support more high-value transactions and agreements. His post did not provide technical details supporting his quantum-safety and AI-safety timeline.
The central point is that Lubin sees ETH as more than a scarce digital asset. He believes its monetary properties and Ethereum’s utility could reinforce each other as onchain activity expands. Whether that translates into lasting price appreciation will depend on adoption, network activity, and market demand.
