VITALIK IS CHALLENGING ONE OF ETHEREUM'S BIGGEST INVESTMENT THESES For years, ETH investors have pointed to transaction-fee burning as a reason Ethereum could become increasingly scarce. Now Vitalik argues that ETH's long-term value should rest primarily on its security, decentralization and ability to preserve wealth, even if fee burns remain far below new issuance. He still supports EIP-1559. The timing is interesting. Ethereum mainnet transactions are up 54% while median fees have fallen 90%. A network can become more useful without burning more ETH. The harder question is how that growing utility translates into lasting demand for the asset itself.