It’s easy to forget Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin started his crypto journey with the big orange coin—covering the space for Bitcoin Magazine and eventually starting his own blockchain inspired by the biggest and oldest virtual asset. 

But now the Ethereum co-founder readily admits he barely holds any Bitcoin—and most of his holdings are in ETH. 

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, Buterin said that less than 10% of his assets are in Bitcoin. 

“I’m under 10% in BTC,” wrote Buterin, responding to an X user who said people in crypto should have at least 10% of their portfolio in the asset. “But then again I’m under 10% in anything that’s not ETH,” he added.

The crypto community as a whole has both poked fun and expressed worry as the price of the second biggest coin lags behind the serious gains Bitcoin has made. 

But as of Friday afternoon, the price of ETH is currently up by more than 4% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko, and is trading for $3,403. 

The second-largest digital coin has struggled to go higher—despite the approval of several spot ETH exchange-traded funds last year. 

ETH right now is 30% below its 2021 all-time high of $4,878. 

Some in the ecosystem are also concerned about the boom in Layer-2 networks on Ethereum. Such tools are used to bring down the cost of transacting on the Ethereum mainnet.

Some analysts have said the use of L2s could cost ETH trillions of dollars in potential market capitalization in the future. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom: Buterin is pondering solutions. 

The Ethereum co-founder earlier this month addressed these concerns, saying that developers should focus on finding ways to raise cash and boost the ETH price—perhaps by burning a portion of their gas fees, or by staking them and then donating the proceeds to the Ethereum community. 

And the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fast-tracked Bitwise’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, allowing it to be listed and traded on NYSE Arca. It’s yet another sign that institutional appetite is growing for ETH.

Edited by Stacy Elliott

 Read More