The debate around the health, success, and long-term viability of Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surfaced again as Mike Alfred, a notable value investor, declared that Ethereum (ETH) looks “sick.”

Bill Morgan, a lawyer interested in digital assets, quickly challenged this view. Morgan disagreed with Mike Alfred’s opinion, which painted a gloomy picture of Ethereum. 

Mike Alfred’s Ethereum Skepticism

Mike Alfred, known for his engaged value investing, recently expressed his viewpoint on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). In his post, Alfred labeled ETH as appearing “sick” and argued that its much-touted promise as the “world computer” and a platform for “ultrasound money” has not been fulfilled.

Alfred added more fuel to his fire by claiming that the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) initiatives, two pillars of Ethereum’s appeal, have been “largely abandoned.”

Taking things further, Alfred raised eyebrows by insinuating that ETH co-founder Vitalik Buterin, among other insiders, was “exploiting the protocol for their benefit.”

The investor also touched upon what he perceives as Ethereum’s vulnerability, saying the government might find it straightforward to censor transactions on the Ethereum network. Rounding off his critique, Alfred announced he was divesting himself of his ETH holdings.

Ethereum looks sick. The world computer and ultrasound money narratives have failed. Defi and NFTs have largely been abandoned. Vitalik and other insiders are looting the protocol and transactions are easily censored by governments. It’s a disaster. Today I am selling my ETH.

— Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) October 9, 2023

Bill Morgan’s Counter To Alfred’s Claims

In his style, Bill Morgan counter-argued by digging up a past post by Alfred. Morgan highlighted some of Alfred’s prior predictions that many in the crypto community found “misguided.” Alfred had previously claimed that Cardano was a “flawed” project and labeled Hex and XRP as securities.

Morgan questioned Alfred’s credibility by pointing out these past statements, especially the declaration about XRP being a security. Morgan’s implication was clear – Alfred had been off the mark with his previous assessments, so was this recent critique of Ethereum yet another misjudgment?

I wonder if you will be as wrong with this assessment as when you declared XRP is a security. https://t.co/75ED9uKxyK pic.twitter.com/X69QtJeB8w

— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) October 9, 2023

Moreover, Morgan wasn’t the only one to counter Alfred’s view. A glance at the comments under Alfred’s post showed a majority disagreement. One user, Jesse Eckel, was particularly vocal. Eckel commented: “Ironically not one thing you said here is true.”

Eckel cited ETH’s accomplishments, noting its position as the most “widely used crypto layer for application development” and the surge in NFT volume, which exceeded $200 million the previous month. In a concluding remark aimed at Alfred, Eckel said: “Hopefully you can see you’ve become tribally aligned and it’s causing irrational views.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView