Is Joe Lubin the Michael Saylor of Ethereum?

This episode features Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensus, discussing the seismic shifts in the regulatory landscape, the launch of an Ether-focused public company (ESBET), and why Ether is poised to become a dominant treasury and store-of-value asset, potentially rivaling Bitcoin's ascent.

The SEC's Shifting Tides: From Inquisition to Collaboration

• Joe Lubin, in conversation with the Bankless hosts, revisits the recent past where Consensus faced intense scrutiny from the SEC. He describes this period as an "inquisition underway, driven by President Elizabeth Warren" and the bank lobby, aimed at classifying Ether as a security. This involved costly legal battles for many crypto firms.
• Consensus took proactive legal action by suing the SEC in Texas, challenging their stance on Ether's classification. Lubin notes the SEC's subsequent lawsuit against Consensus in Brooklyn occurred after a significant change in the regulatory environment following Chair Gensler's resignation.
• The outcome has been a dramatic turnaround. Lubin states, "ultimately we basically won... and then they settled. We all settled." He now characterizes the relationship with the new SEC administration as "outstanding," highlighting constructive interactions.
  • Strategic Implication: The resolution of these legal battles and the shift in SEC tone signal a more favorable regulatory environment for Ethereum and related projects in the US, potentially unlocking new investment and development.

ESBET: A Publicly Traded Bet on Ethereum's Treasury Potential

• Lubin introduces Sharplink Gaming Inc. (ticker: ESBET), a publicly traded company where he serves as Chairman. ESBET is pivoting to strategically acquire Ether for its treasury, alongside enhancing its existing gaming business with Web3 primitives.
  • Web3 Primitives: These are fundamental building blocks of the decentralized web, such as smart contracts, tokens, and decentralized identity systems, enabling new forms of interaction and value exchange.
• The initial plan involves acquiring approximately $425 million worth of Ether, with intentions to stake, restake, and participate in DeFi (Decentralized Finance). DeFi refers to financial services built on blockchain technology that operate without traditional intermediaries.
• Lubin draws parallels to Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy, which employs financial instruments to continuously acquire Bitcoin. ESBET aims to do similarly for Ether, focusing on increasing "Ether concentration" per share.
  • "He's [Michael Saylor] able to create financial instruments that are attractive to different cohorts of investors... we will look to do hypothetically we'll look to do some of those things and and we can do so much more." - Joe Lubin
  • Actionable Insight: Investors should monitor ESBET's strategy for acquiring and utilizing Ether, as it could serve as a blueprint for other public companies looking to add ETH to their balance sheets.

Fueling ESBET: Capital, Financial Engineering, and Tokenization

• ESBET's growth strategy involves both direct investment (Consensus led an initial round) and at-the-market (ATM) sales of shares. ATM offerings allow companies to sell newly issued shares directly into the trading market at current prices.
• Lubin highlights the innovative potential of tokenizing ESBET's equity. This could offer token-gated perks and direct share ownership, contrasting with the traditional system where shares are often held indirectly via intermediaries like the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation).
  • Strategic Consideration: The tokenization of equity by a public company like ESBET could pioneer new models for shareholder engagement and liquidity, merging TradFi structures with crypto-native mechanisms.

The Michael Saylor Analogy and a Looming Paradigm Shift

• The discussion touches upon Michael Saylor's impactful advocacy for Bitcoin, which contributed to MicroStrategy's stock premium. Lubin, while acknowledging Saylor's "truly remarkable" work, suggests a broader "paradigm shift" is underway.
• He posits that the global economy is transitioning from a centralized model to one dominated by decentralized protocols and AI. This shift, Lubin argues, will see TradFi (Traditional Finance) increasingly onboard to DeFi rails.
  • "I think we're in a paradigm shift... the paradigm shift is enabling structural magic potentially to happen." - Joe Lubin
  • Researcher Focus: The interplay between decentralized protocols and AI, as highlighted by Lubin, presents a rich area for research into new economic models and technological synergies.

Valuing Ether: Beyond DCF to "Trust as a Commodity"

• Lubin expresses his intent to be a vocal advocate for Ethereum, similar to Saylor for Bitcoin. He challenges traditional valuation models like DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) for Ether.
• Instead, he proposes framing "trust as a commodity," where Ether provides the underlying trust for transactions, agreements, and relationships on the Ethereum blockchain, significantly increasing their value.
  • Actionable Insight: Investors should consider alternative valuation frameworks for Ether that account for its role in enabling trust and its network effects, rather than relying solely on traditional financial metrics.

Educating Wall Street: "Number Go Up" and Demonstrable Success

• Lubin concedes that Ethereum's value proposition can be more complex to communicate than Bitcoin's. However, he believes ESBET's success will be a powerful demonstration for Wall Street.
• The strategy relies on the idea that observing sustained positive performance ("watch number go up") will compel financial institutions to understand and invest in Ethereum and DeFi.
  • Strategic Implication: The performance of publicly traded Ether-centric vehicles like ESBET could be a key catalyst for broader institutional adoption of ETH.

Ethereum's "Broadband Moment": Scalability, L2s, and the Path Forward

• Addressing Ether's past price underperformance relative to Bitcoin and some alt-L1s, Lubin attributes it to an "awkward adolescent period" focused on building foundational "civilizational infrastructure" and solving scalability.
• He declares Ethereum has hit its "broadband moment," with Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions making blockspace affordable and UIs improving. L2s are separate blockchains built on top of Ethereum (Layer 1) to process transactions more efficiently.
• Upcoming hard forks, Fusaka and particularly Glamsterdam (targeted for mid-2026), are expected to further enhance scalability, with Glamsterdam potentially enshrining a native ZK-rollup. ZK-rollups bundle transactions off-chain and generate a cryptographic proof (a zero-knowledge proof) to validate them on Layer 1, offering high security and scalability.
• Lubin mentions Consensus's L2, Linea (a ZK EVM - Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine), is a candidate for this enshrined rollup and will have a TGE (Token Generation Event) with tokenomics designed to support Ethereum L1.
  • Researcher Focus: The evolution of L2s, enshrined rollups, and their economic impact on Ethereum L1 are critical areas for ongoing research.

Ether: The Superior Treasury and Collateral Asset

• Lubin asserts Ether is a "much better treasury asset" than Bitcoin due to its productivity and yield-generating capabilities (e.g., staking, DeFi participation).
• ESBET plans to leverage these features, offering exposure that current Ether ETFs (which generally don't include staking rewards) cannot.
  • Actionable Insight: Companies and investors considering digital assets for treasury should evaluate Ether's yield potential and its utility within the DeFi ecosystem as key advantages.

The Rise of Multiple Ether Acquisition Vehicles

• Lubin anticipates the emergence of many ESBET-like entities globally. Consensus aims to facilitate this by providing tools and services for enterprises to onboard Ether to their treasuries, issue tokens, and engage with DeFi.
• He foresees both competition and collaboration among these vehicles, with potential for consolidation in the future.
  • Strategic Consideration: The proliferation of Ether acquisition vehicles could significantly increase demand for ETH and accelerate its integration into traditional finance.

Consensus IPO? A "Very Good Time" for Blockchain IPOs

• When asked about a potential Consensus IPO, Lubin confirms that "now is a very good time for blockchain companies to IPO" but refrains from commenting specifically on Consensus's plans.
  • Market Trend: The increasing number of crypto-related IPOs signals growing mainstream acceptance and investor appetite for the sector.

Ether's Enduring Store of Value Proposition

• Challenging the notion that Bitcoin is the sole digital store of value, Lubin argues that Ether's productive utility, yielding power, and decade-long appreciation make it an "outstanding store of value on a civilizational scale."
• "Anyone who tells you that there can be only one store of value has an agenda." - Joe Lubin
  • Investor Perspective: Lubin's view supports a portfolio approach to digital assets, where Ether's unique characteristics complement Bitcoin's store-of-value narrative.

Path to a Multi-Trillion Dollar Ether: End-User Applications

• To reach multi-trillion dollar market capitalization, Lubin emphasizes the need for more end-user applications beyond the current DeFi landscape, making crypto accessible and useful to a broader audience.
• Vehicles like ESBET can help by demonstrating the safety and benefits of organizational Ether adoption.

Ethereum's Renaissance: Community, Foundation, and Advocacy

• Lubin is optimistic about recent positive momentum within the Ethereum ecosystem, including changes at the Ethereum Foundation (EF) leading to a more focused roadmap and increased external engagement.
• He likens Ethereum's journey to Google's AI development, suggesting that upstart energy (from newer projects or even Bitcoin maximalists) has helped Ethereum realize its future is "now."
  • Community Watch: The renewed vigor and coordinated efforts within the Ethereum community and its core institutions are positive indicators for future development and adoption.

Stablecoin Legislation: A "Shot in the Arm" for Ethereum

• Lubin believes upcoming US stablecoin legislation will be a significant catalyst for Ethereum, as it hosts the majority of stablecoin value and volume.
• While supporting regulated, centrally-backed stablecoins for growth, he stresses the importance of decentralized stablecoins (like DAI from MakerDAO) that rely on the appreciation of assets like ETH and BTC to provide "decentralized economic bandwidth."
  • Regulatory Watch: Crypto AI investors and researchers should closely monitor the progress and specifics of stablecoin legislation, as it will heavily impact the DeFi ecosystem built on Ethereum.

Conclusion: This episode underscores a pivotal moment for Ethereum, with regulatory headwinds turning into tailwinds and new institutional vehicles like ESBET championing Ether as a strategic treasury asset. Investors and researchers should monitor the adoption of Ether by public companies and the evolution of its valuation narrative beyond simple utility, recognizing its potential as a foundational "trust commodity" in the burgeoning decentralized economy.