On May 21, David Hoffman posted on X, announcing he had liquidated his entire ETH holdings.

On the same day, Ryan Sean Adams followed up with a post. He stated that he “still believes in ETH and still believes in Bankless.” However, Bankless is entering its “second era,” and he plans to step further into the background. Weekly podcasts will continue, but content direction and guest selection will no longer be under his control—“David will take full helm.”

Former Bankless member Lucas took to social media, stating: “Let me just lay out what can’t be said publicly—Bankless clearly laid off most of its team yesterday. No thanks, no public announcement to help team members find new roles.”

All of this unfolded during a period of major internal reshuffling at the Ethereum Foundation.

They Were Once ETH’s Most Loyal Amplifiers

Bankless is not an ordinary crypto media outlet.

In September 2020, David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams co-founded the brand, starting from a newsletter. Over five years, it grew into one of the most important content ecosystems in the English-speaking crypto space. The platform includes podcasts, videos, paid membership program Citizenship, a derivative DAO, and in 2023, a standalone venture fund—Bankless Ventures—with approximately $35 million in assets. It features a dedicated column, Ethereum Weekly.

It was the single most powerful amplifier for the ETH narrative. And the core argument behind this amplification primarily came from David Hoffman.

Hoffman, originally a licensed clinical psychologist, entered the crypto space in 2017. He served as COO at RealT, a real estate tokenization platform, before beginning to publish in-depth analyses on ETH fundamentals in 2019. Within Bankless, he functioned as the research arm and narrative architect. Adams has a longer investment pedigree, having accumulated positions in crypto through Mythos Capital around 2017. On-air, he played a macro-cycle and evangelist role.

Starting in 2019, Hoffman published a series of seminal essays: “Ether: The Triple Point Asset,” “Ether is Equity,” “Ethereum's Economic Engine,” and “The Ethereum Watershed.” His central thesis: ETH possesses the threefold attributes of money, debt, and equity—a “triple-point asset.” This narrative provided ETH holders with a fundamental analytical framework, transforming ETH from mere cryptocurrency into foundational infrastructure within the digital financial stack.

Hoffman himself pushed this argument to extremes. He once publicly declared that 99% of his net worth was invested in Ethereum, and that he personally had no bank account. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, he argued Ethereum would establish a new global order by 2026.

Only four months have passed since his recent liquidation announcement.

What Happened Inside Bankless

The collapse of Bankless’s pro-ETH narrative did not happen overnight:

In April 2025, ETH dropped to $1,415. Hoffman publicly criticized Ethereum’s leadership and culture, accusing them of alienating users and developers, and demanding a strategic pivot from the Ethereum Foundation.

In October 2025, he mourned on X the departure of Dankrad Feist—the longest-serving researcher at the Ethereum Foundation—who joined the stablecoin Layer-1 project Tempo. Hoffman expressed concern over talent drain from the Ethereum Foundation to profit-driven entities.

In December 2025, he wrote “Crypto's Yearly Candles,” admitting 2025 was a bearish year for both ETH and BTC.

In January 2026, he published “This Crypto Cycle Skipped ETH,” arguing this cycle’s rally bypassed ETH entirely. In March 2026, upon the release of the Ethereum Foundation’s new Mandate, he penned “The EF's Endless Manifestos,” blasting the Foundation for “having no intention to fight for ETH’s market share.”

Thus, today’s liquidation was not sudden.

Beyond Hoffman, Adams’ approach deserves attention. He said “still believe in ETH”—not “reduced exposure,” nor “following David.” This marks a relatively dignified internal power transition, coinciding with recent layoffs at Bankless.

By handing editorial control to David, Bankless now signals a move toward greater “de-ETHification,” with increased focus on Solana, Hyperliquid, prediction markets, and the revival of ICOs.

Ethereum Foundation Undergoes Further Massive Reshuffling

Since Vitalik Buterin initiated the Ethereum Foundation’s restructuring in 2025, the organization has undergone multiple rounds of large-scale personnel turnover:

Longtime leader Aya Miyaguchi stepped down as Executive Director, succeeded by co-EDs Tomasz Stańczak and Hsiao-Wei Wang. Longstanding community frustrations with the Foundation’s opacity, slow pace, and lack of accountability for ETH value capture had been building for years.

Yet, these changes continued into 2026.

On February 13, 2026, Stańczak announced his resignation as co-ED by end-of-month, after less than a year in office. Bastian Aue took his place.

On March 13, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation released a 38-page document titled “Ethereum Foundation Mandate.” Its core is the CROPS framework: censorship-resistant, open source, private, secure. The document explicitly states the Foundation will retreat to a “neutral watchdog” role—no longer driving ecosystem expansion or taking responsibility for ETH price performance. The document also includes a two-dimensional illustration referencing Remilia’s “Source Seppuku License” (Seppuku License), depicting the Foundation swearing allegiance to Ethereum, with a sword at its throat should it ever betray its promise.

Rumors circulated that the Foundation required employees to sign the new Mandate—or face termination.

Between March and May 2026, all three leads of the Protocol Cluster departed. Five senior researchers left in May alone. The complete list: Carl Beekhuizen (seven-year veteran), Julian Ma, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Trent Van Epps, Alex Stokes, Josh Stark, plus former co-ED Stańczak. Eight departures within one year.

The controversy surrounding the Mandate document itself reflects the core debate in ETH investment arguments.

We can interpret this as the Ethereum Foundation returning to a neutral, decentralized, open-source, and trustworthy guardian role. But we can also interpret it differently: in an era of accelerating institutional interest in blockchain, the Foundation has voluntarily disavowed responsibility for ETH value capture—effectively tearing away the most critical pillar of the ETH investment thesis.

As Hoffman wrote in his March article: “I don’t want to read another Ethereum Foundation document in 2026 telling readers ‘we’re not going to fight for ETH’s market share,’ while devoting our full energy to some cyberpunk ideology that does nothing for ETH’s market cap.”

The exit of a major ETH mouthpiece may not immediately impact ETH’s price.

But every asset is ultimately a narrative asset. What lies ahead for ETH, now stripped of its most vocal advocate?

Original: BlockBeats