Vitalik to the left, Wall Street to the right

Author: Byron Gilliam

Translation: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

"People always respond better to a single idea clearly expressed. When 'complexity' starts speaking, they tune out." Ken Segall

When Jobs met with advertising experts from Chiat Day to create an ad for the new iMac, they asked him to pick one single new feature to highlight for consumers.

Instead, Jobs insisted on a 30-second TV spot that could include four or five features he felt everyone needed to know about.

The agency executives argued that no one could remember four or five things and urged him to choose his favorite one.

When Jobs refused, legendary marketer Lee Clow decided to make his point in a more tangible way.

As Ken Segall later recounted, Clow tore five sheets of paper from his notepad and crumpled them into balls.

Jobs watched as Clow said "Catch," then tossed one paper ball across the table. Jobs caught it and threw it back.

"That's a good ad," Clow explained. "Now catch this."

Clow hurled all five paper balls at him—and he caught none.

"That's a bad ad," Clow told him.

The demonstration seemed to work, as Jobs eventually agreed to let Chiat Day produce a much simpler ad than he had initially requested.

"Simplification is key to getting ideas across," Segall explained.

"Give people one idea, and they'll nod. Give them five, and they'll scratch their heads."

Muddled Messages

Over the years, investors have heard many reasons why they should invest in Ethereum: world computer, digital oil, interest-bearing internet bond, ultra-sound money, crypto app store, stablecoin chain.

None of these messages has truly stuck, perhaps because they are often presented simultaneously—like Clow’s five paper balls flying through the air at once.

Last weekend, Vitalik introduced yet another: "low-risk DeFi."

Vitalik opened his latest blog post by acknowledging a "disconnect" within the Ethereum community caused by two seemingly conflicting goals: generating income for token holders and preserving the chain's neutrality and decentralization.

He hopes "low-risk DeFi" can be an application that "satisfies both requirements."

If so, it might help unify Ethereum's many competing narratives, as David Hoffman anticipated: "Now everything is starting to come together."

Others remain skeptical. For example, Mert Mumtaz argues that Ethereum's self-imposed technical constraints are incompatible with Vitalik's emphasis on payment and financial inclusion: "You can't serve enough people on L1 because it can't scale!"

Yet from a marketing standpoint, the risk is that Ethereum's investment pitch may become even more fragmented.

"Low-risk DeFi" strikes me as a solid elevator pitch—it distinguishes Ethereum from revenue-less Bitcoin and over-monetized Solana; it's specific enough to mean something, yet abstract enough to stay open-ended; it's both visionary and pragmatic.

But this carefully balanced message risks being drowned out by today's digital asset treasuries (DATs) shaping crypto narratives.

Joe Lubin says this is precisely why he became chairman of SharpLink Gaming DAT: "To tell the story of Ethereum."

Unlike Vitalik, he frames this story with traditional investors in mind: "What does Wall Street care about? It cares about making money."

Joe Lubin tossed at least three paper balls into the air, positioning Ethereum as a productive asset, a monetary asset, and a "trust commodity."

Another major Ethereum DAT, BitMine, chaired by Tom Lee, adds stablecoins, RWA, and even AI agents to the narrative mix.

Clow would likely lock them both in a room and refuse to let them out until they picked just one message to promote to investors.

Yet DATs act more like competitors than a unified community effort, and Tom Lee currently leads: BitMine holds 2.15 million ETH, while SharpLink holds 838,000.

This tells us something about marketing power: Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, receives less investor attention than Tom Lee, best known for promoting various projects on CNBC.

The outcome of this competition may have real consequences.

For instance, Tom Lee believes that once BitMine's holdings exceed a magical threshold (5%) of the ETH supply, it will wield outsized influence over Ethereum's development.

From a governance perspective, this is unlikely, since no one "owns" the Ethereum network (not even ETH holders).

But I suspect it could happen from an information standpoint—and information matters.

In this sense, the emergence of a single DAT holding over 5% of the ETH supply might actually help the investment case by simplifying the message investors hear.

Yet DATs themselves are already struggling to maintain message consistency.

For example, Tom Lee's Ethereum DAT recently invested in a Worldcoin DAT, while a Solana DAT—DeFi Dev Corp.—invested in a DAT targeting the 0G token (which doesn’t yet exist).

When even the message creators can't stay consistent, how can we expect investors to keep up?

The clearest counterexample is Bitcoin, which captured investor attention by offering a single investment thesis: digital gold.

Of course, Bitcoin is far more than that.

I think it's far more interesting as resistant money.

Others find its Lightning Network most compelling.

Luckily, Lee Clow might remind you that it can be all those things.

With his crumpled paper balls, Clow wasn't asking Jobs to remove four of the iMac's five new features—just to pick one to highlight.

Blockchains and DATs should do the same.