TLDR:
- Ethereum fees remain near 2020 levels despite 100x growth in tokenized asset value and stablecoin use.
- Activity is shifting to Solana, Arbitrum, and Tempo, with Tether building new chains to move USDT volume.
- Kang dismissed Lee’s claim that banks will buy ETH to secure networks, saying demand remains unproven.
- ETH price remains stuck in a multi-year range, with resistance holding and potential for extended sideways action.
Ethereum’s bullish narrative took a hit after analyst Andrew Kang publicly dissected Tom Lee’s price thesis.
Kang said Lee’s arguments mix financial misunderstandings with over-optimistic projections. His comments questioned whether Ethereum’s fundamentals justify its current market cap.
Ethereum Fees, Adoption, and Price Reality
Kang argued that Lee’s claim about stablecoin and tokenized asset growth fueling ETH revenue does not hold up against data. He pointed out that Ethereum transaction fees remain close to 2020 levels despite a surge in tokenized asset value and stablecoin usage.
He linked this to three drivers: network upgrades lowering gas costs, activity shifting to chains like Solana and Arbitrum, and tokenized assets with very low transaction velocity. Kang explained that tokenizing a $100 million bond that trades rarely generates almost no fee revenue for Ethereum.
He said that most future blockchain fees may not accrue to Ethereum but to chains with strong business development strategies. Kang cited Solana, Arbitrum, and Tempo as early winners in this race, with Tether even launching its own chains to capture USDT volume.
Kang dismissed the “digital oil” comparison, saying that real oil prices have been range-bound for over a century and that this framing does not justify a bullish ETH call.
— Andrew Kang (@Rewkang) September 24, 2025
Institutional ETH Demand and Technical Levels
Kang also rejected Lee’s belief that banks will buy ETH to secure networks for tokenized assets. He compared the claim to banks stockpiling barrels of gasoline just because they need energy. He said institutions simply pay for services as needed and rarely buy equity in custodians or network operators.
He added that equating ETH’s valuation with all financial infrastructure firms misunderstands how value accrual works. Kang called this assumption unrealistic.
On technicals, Kang said Ethereum remains in a multi-year price range, recently failing to break resistance. He warned that ETH may stay in a $1,000–$4,800 band for an extended period. He added that ETH/BTC trends show a long-term downtrend with only a recent bounce at support.