The Ethereum network, once hailed as the beating heart of decentralized innovation, is now facing one of its most turbulent chapters. As ETH/BTC slips to multi-year lows and long-term believers question their faith, a quiet crisis is unfolding—not just in market charts, but in the minds of those who once saw Ethereum as a revolution.
This is the story of dreams deferred, ideals tested, and a community clinging to hope in the face of doubt. Welcome to the Ethereum Asylum—a digital refuge where conviction meets collapse.
The Birth of the Ethereum Asylum
It began with a cry for help.
“I was wrong. I regret buying Ethereum.”
That was the original name of a private Telegram group created in early 2025 by Orange, a former VC investor who entered the crypto space in 2021. What started as a six-person echo chamber of disappointment soon swelled into a 250-member support group—intentionally capped at that number, a self-deprecating nod to being “a total fool” for holding ETH.
“We used to shout ‘buy the dip’ at $3,000,” Orange recalls. “Then $2,500. Then $2,100. By the time we hit $2,080, no one believed in dips anymore. Someone joked about calling Dr. Yang Yongxin for electroshock therapy. That’s how we became the Ethereum Asylum.”
The name stuck. And so did the pain.
Among its members: Lin Feng, a four-year ETH holder who finally sold in April 2025 after ETH/BTC plunged to 0.01766—the lowest since 2020. His post wasn’t just about loss; it was a eulogy for a dream.
“I got into crypto because of Ethereum’s vision—the world computer,” he says. “I thought I was doing value investing on a civilizational scale. Now I’m not even sure I had the stomach for it.”
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DeFi Summer: When Hope Was Everything
To understand the depth of today’s despair, you must remember the height of yesterday’s euphoria.
In 2020, Ethereum was unstoppable. Uniswap overtook Coinbase in daily volume. Compound ignited the yield farming craze. DeFi Summer wasn’t just a bull run—it was a cultural awakening.
For many in the Asylum, including Orange and Lin Feng, this wasn’t speculation. It was ideology.
“We studied every proposal,” Orange says. “Vitalik talked about sharding, zk-proofs, Layer2s… we believed this was the future of finance and computation.”
Venture capital followed. Funds poured into ZK-focused projects like zkSync (valued at $2B), Starknet ($8B), and Scroll ($1.8B). The narrative was clear: Ethereum would scale, lead, and dominate.
But narratives expire.
As new chains like Solana gained traction with speed and low fees, investors stopped caring about decentralization purity. Meme coins replaced DeFi protocols as the market’s darlings. The revolution didn’t fail—it got bored.
Why Ethereum Feels Stale
“There’s been no paradigm shift this cycle,” admits Big Orange, a prominent Ethereum advocate and Asylum member known online as an “E-bull general.”
And he’s not alone.
Web3 innovator Yuanjie, co-founder of Conflux and self-proclaimed “Web3 Investment Director,” agrees: “Three years ago, every week brought something new—new protocols, new mechanics, real innovation. Today? We’re recycling old ideas.”
Ethereum’s core problem isn't price—it's relevance.
- Stagnant innovation: No major technical breakthroughs have captured developer or user attention.
- Weak value accrual: With EIP-1559’s fee-burning mechanism underperforming due to low on-chain activity, ETH isn’t deflating as expected.
- Layer2 fragmentation: While L2s solve scalability, they also siphon revenue—MEV and fees—that once flowed back to Ethereum’s mainnet.
“The L2s are like vassal states paying lip service to the emperor while building their own kingdoms,” Yuanjie explains. “They use Ethereum’s security but keep the profits.”
Even worse? User experience suffers. Liquidity is split across dozens of rollups. Composability—the magic sauce of DeFi Summer—is breaking down.
Compare that to Solana, where speed enables seamless consumer apps. Or Cosmos, where app-specific chains thrive independently.
And then there’s ATOM—a cautionary tale.
Like ATOM, ETH risks becoming a passive hub: respected, secured, but economically hollow. Value flows upward to L2s; ETH holders get little in return.
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The Two Paths Forward
Amid the gloom, debate rages within the Asylum about how to save Ethereum.
The Pragmatists (The Right)
This camp believes Ethereum must evolve—or die.
- Orange argues for compliance: “You can’t fight nation-states. If you want survival, you need to coexist.”
- Lin Feng calls for stronger leadership: “The Ethereum Foundation has been too ideological, too weak. We need a Trump-like figure—controversial, effective.”
- Yuanjie pushes for a commercial arm: “Great tech needs great business strategy. Vitalik can’t do both.”
They want Ethereum to engage regulators, court institutions, and prioritize usability over purity.
The Idealists (The Left)
To them, Ethereum’s soul is non-negotiable.
- BlueFox Notes, a well-known analyst: “I only care if Ethereum stays decentralized, secure, and trustless. If it changes, I’m gone.”
- Investor Jacob: “SOL is corporate stock with high performance. Ethereum is a new form of human organization—a digital nation.”
They see compromise as betrayal. To them, Ethereum’s resistance to centralization is its greatest strength—even if it costs market share.
This divide reflects a deeper question: Is blockchain about changing finance… or changing society?
A Glimmer of Hope
Not all news is bleak.
On April 22, 2025—the same day institutions like Galaxy Digital and Paradigm dumped thousands of ETH—F2Pool co-founder WangChun quietly swapped 50 WBTC for 2,794 ETH (~$4.36M). A quiet vote of confidence from a mining veteran.
Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin continues pushing long-term upgrades: proto-danksharding, account abstraction, further ZK integration.
“The bear market is necessary,” says Jocy, founder of IOSG Ventures. “Ethereum won’t die. It’s the most successful decentralized organization in Web3 history.”
She urges holders to think in decadal terms, not quarterly cycles.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Ethereum still relevant in 2025?
A: Yes—but its relevance is shifting. While it remains the dominant base layer for secure settlements and L2 interoperability, it faces fierce competition from faster, cheaper chains for user-facing applications.
Q: Why are Layer2s hurting Ethereum?
A: Because they capture most transaction fees and MEV while relying on Ethereum only for data availability and security. Without mechanisms to redistribute value back to ETH stakers, the mainnet risks becoming economically inert.
Q: Can Ethereum recover its innovation edge?
A: It can—if core developers accelerate execution and focus on user-centric improvements like account abstraction and unified liquidity layers.
Q: Should I sell my ETH now?
A: That depends on your investment thesis. If you believe in Ethereum’s long-term role as a decentralized settlement layer, holding may make sense. If you’re chasing short-term gains, other ecosystems may offer better momentum.
Q: What would make Ethereum succeed again?
A: A combination of technical progress (scalability), ecosystem coordination (L2 revenue sharing), and renewed narrative power—such as privacy-preserving applications or AI-integrated smart contracts.
Q: Is the "Ethereum Asylum" real?
A: Yes—it’s a private Telegram group symbolizing the emotional toll of prolonged bear markets on true believers. Its members represent a microcosm of the broader ETH community: hurt, doubtful, but still watching.
The Ethereum Asylum isn’t just a joke—it’s a monument to cognitive dissonance. To love something that may no longer love you back.
Yet even as some sell and walk away, others remain. Not because they see green candles coming tomorrow—but because they remember a summer when anything felt possible.
And perhaps, just perhaps, another summer will come.