Insider Reveals Real Reason Ethereum Is Down 65% vs Bitcoin Since The Merge
A pointed critique from inside Ethereum’s developer ranks argues that ether’s 65% slide towards Bitcoin (BTC) because the Merge stems from particular execution failures on the Ethereum Foundation, not from broad market cycles or coordination issues.
Reid, an ICO-era participant who nonetheless builds on Ethereum (ETH), revealed the indictment, framing the underperformance as collected execution debt with names, dates, and missed product calls.
A 65% Drop With Names Attached
Reid’s central information level traces up with public market information. The ETH/BTC ratio peaked close to 0.085 across the Merge in September 2022.
It has fallen to roughly 0.028 by late May, capturing ether’s underperformance against Bitcoin. Ether at present trades below $2,000, down 21% over the previous 12 months.
Reid rejects Bankless co-founder David Hoffman’s framing of ether’s “deserved cap” as a noble ceiling. He argues the cap sits decrease than bulls anticipated, for causes with names and dates somewhat than coordination principle.
Reid covers credit score and real-world assets at companies together with Figure and Securitize, and discloses he’s nonetheless lengthy ether.
ESG Marketing and a Missing Staking Interface
Reid argues the Merge’s 99.95% energy-reduction message answered questions capital allocators by no means requested.
Institutions needed yield, builders needed finality, and customers needed cheaper transactions. Solana offered uncooked velocity throughout the identical window.
Proof-of-stake sat on the roadmap from 2015 and took seven years to ship. Solana launched mainnet beta in March 2020 and shipped wallets, decentralized exchanges, and cash markets whereas Ethereum debated specs.
Vitalik Buterin’s writing by way of 2024 and 2025 shifted from Casper specs towards pluralism and community states.
Reid reads that tone as an established Ethereum cultural posture somewhat than an energetic aggressive one.
The smoking gun, in Reid’s learn, is the absence of a first-party staking app three years after the Merge.
The official path nonetheless requires working a validator with no less than 32 ETH. Most customers route by way of Lido, which holds about 24% of staked ETH regardless of repeated centralization warnings from developers.
“‘We don’t decide winners’ is what a corporation says when it doesn’t need to compete,” Reid remarked.
Follow us on X to get the most recent information because it occurs
Rollups as Managed Decline
The rollup-centric roadmap drained the bottom layer. EIP-4844 went dwell in March 2024 and pushed blob charges close to 1 wei by way of most of 2024 and 2025.
Ethereum’s quarterly transaction fee revenue has fallen roughly 95% from a This fall 2021 peak of $4.3 billion.
Arbitrum has marketed 90% to 98% working margins on its L2s. Base captured near 70% of rollup earnings by mid-2025.
Every main L2 issued its personal token, fragmenting capital flows contained in the ecosystem.
Reid contrasts this with Solana’s built-in L1, which has proven charge seize accruing on to its native token.
The remaining query is whether or not Foundation product cadence shifts. The ETH/BTC ratio’s path by way of the remainder of the cycle will replicate the reply.
The publish Insider Reveals Real Reason Ethereum Is Down 65% vs Bitcoin Since The Merge appeared first on BeInCrypto.
