Man, it's safe to say that $ETH was one of the biggest disappointments in this cycle, especially because many people expected it to shine after The Merge, with the transition to proof of stake. Everyone thought there would be a major appreciation, lower inflation, ESG narrative, etc. But the price kind of moved sideways compared to other altcoins and even #BTC .

Meanwhile, blockchains like Solana, for example, managed to create hype, big partnerships, a rapidly growing ecosystem… and Ethereum ended up looking slow, expensive, and even a bit "too institutional", losing that more grassroots appeal of the crypto community.