Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin argued on Nov. 11 that ETH is positioned to be the store of value for what he expects to be a period of high inflation and social volatility. In a long post on X, the MetaMask founder wrote that "it will matter more than ever to hold assets that keep or grow their value." ETH traded around $2,050 to $2,060 at the time.
Why ETH is the store of value for what's coming
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) November 11, 2026
We are almost certainly heading into a period of high inflation and extreme economic and social volatility. As inflation and risk erode the purchasing power of nation-state money and many other assets, it will matter more than ever… https://t.co/MXuapK9kPI
Lubin's case for ETH
Lubin placed ETH alongside gold and bitcoin, which he called "high-powered money and excellent stores of value," and said ETH "goes further." He listed its traits one by one. ETH is not debt-based or credit-based money. Transactions on Ethereum's base layer cannot be censored, which he said holds for simple payments and for DeFi programs, which are "guaranteed to execute."
He also described ETH as cheap to hold and cheap to use "whether a transaction moves $1 or billions." On supply, he called it "disinflationary" and said it becomes "ultrasound," meaning deflationary, when network activity is high. He added that Ethereum hosts the bulk of stablecoin activity and that ETH works as collateral.
Lubin pointed to privacy as well. He said money on Ethereum can be public or private and still be selectively disclosable and auditable, and he named tools such as Railgun, stealth addresses, Kohaku and zero-knowledge proofs.
A forecast with a date
The most specific claim was about security.
"By the end of 2027, or partway through 2028 at the latest, ETH will be quantum-safe and AI-safe money," Lubin wrote.
He also said part of today's price is speculative, because Ethereum "hasn't fully hit its stride or gone mainstream yet."
The 2027 target lines up with the Ethereum Foundation's work on post-quantum cryptography. Bitmine's annual report, filed Nov. 10, says supporting technologies are targeted for production readiness in 2027, with upgrades continuing after that. The same filing warns there is "no assurance" that protections will be adopted in time. Lubin's timeline is therefore a goal, not a settled schedule.
Where the argument comes from
Lubin's post followed Vitalik Buterin's Nov. 8 thread, which he credited at the end. Buterin said ETH as a store of value "makes much more sense to focus on than 'ETH as fee-burning token'."
Expanding on why I believe "ETH as store of value (SoV)" makes much more sense to focus on than "ETH as fee-burning token".
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 8, 2026
Three primary reasons:
1. ETH as fee-burning token never was as strong as it seemed
2. Optimizing for ETH as fee-burning token would demand Ethereum and…
He argued that the value of ETH comes from decentralization and CROPS, which stands for censorship and capture resistance, open source, privacy and security. He said stability will be "highly valued" in the era of AI disruption. Buterin added that EIP-1559 and its burn should stay, but that holders should not "feel sad" if the burn stays below 10% of breakeven.
Lubin's list fits that shift. The store-of-value pitch moves attention away from fee revenue and toward ETH's roles as collateral, as the main asset on a chain that settles stablecoins, and as a hedge against fiat currency loss. His mention of the Shodai network points to MetaMask founder's own companies in the Consensys orbit, so he has a commercial interest in Ethereum's growth.
The market backdrop
The timing is awkward. ETH traded near $2,055 against an all-time high around $4,950, and it was down more than 40% from that level. Bitmine reported a $6.2 billion unrealized loss on its ETH holdings for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, because of price declines during the period. Lubin's inflation thesis also has to contend with the fact that ETH has not held its value in dollar terms recently.
Community reaction was mostly positive. Some replies called the post a return to Ethereum's roots and a form of insurance against fiat erosion. Critics of the store-of-value framing say that bitcoin already holds that position and has a fixed supply, while ETH issuance can change through protocol decisions. Others note that bitcoin and ETH have both fallen with equities during recent risk-off moves, which complicates the hedge argument.
Lubin ended on a forward-looking note. He wrote that machine intelligence "will supercharge every scientific and technological pursuit" and that Ethereum's base layer and its Layer 2 networks will carry most high-value agreements in a hybrid human-machine economy.
Tanya Petrusenko
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