Samson Mow Doubles Down on Ethereum Being Overvalued, Citing Premined Supply as a Key Issue

Ethereum may have bounced back a little in April, but that hasn't stopped Bitcoin supporter Samson Mow from taking another shot at it.

In April, Ethereum may have bounced back a little, but that hasn’t stopped Bitcoin supporter Samson Mow from taking another shot at it. Mow, who’s no stranger to criticizing Ethereum and highlighting what he sees as Bitcoin’s superior attributes, says the world's second-largest cryptocurrency is still way overvalued.

While Bitcoin has surged about 270% since 2022, largely fueled by macroeconomic tailwinds and an increasing number of institutional investors entering the space, Ethereum hasn’t quite kept up.

According to data from CoinGecko, at the time of writing, BTC is changing hands at $71,446, showing a 267.8% price increase from August 2022, when it was trading at $21,500. Meanwhile, ETH is currently at $1,558, almost unchanged from its August 2022 price of $1,600.

Still waiting for "@hashr_scan to figure out how to report true locked value for PoS chains. In the meantime, here's a good estimate:

At today's prices:

• 21M $BTC = $1.5T

• 122M $ETH = $1.9T

But wait, there's more!

60% of ETH was mined out of thin air during early launch. So if ETH had a supply of 21M like BTC, its price today would be ~$9,300. It's way overvalued.

— Samson Mow (@SamsonMow) April 27, 2024

Last year, the JAN3 CEO claimed that Ethereum has too much supply and doesn’t have the strong fundamentals to back up its current price. He also went on to question its long-term value, saying it lacks the simplicity and solid foundation that make Bitcoin stand out.

In Mow’s opinion, the market is giving ETH more credit than it deserves. Many Bitcoin fans agree with Mow and often call Ethereum overhyped and complicated. However, on the other side, Ethereum supporters argue that it plays a huge role in powering things like NFTs, DeFi apps, and smart contracts—tools that could shape the future of the internet.

Bitcoin maximalist Samson Mow has once again targeted noted cryptocurrency critic Ethereum in a recent analysis. Pointing to Bitcoin’s bullish 2024 rally, which has seen impressive gains, especially in the past month, Mow highlighted that the market is placing more value on BTC despite Ethereum having an edge in total locked value (TLV), according to blockchain analytics firm HashRate.

Sharing a screenshot of HashRate's data, which shows Bitcoin's TLV at $1.5 trillion compared to Ethereum's $1.9 trillion, Mow stated that the figures are still a good estimation. He added that at today’s prices, 21 million Bitcoin comes to $1.5 trillion, and 122 million Ethereum comes to $1.9 trillion.

However, Mow claimed that a major part of his argument on Ethereum’s overvaluation lies in its supply dynamics. While Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million, Ethereum has a circulating supply of over 122 million tokens. Notably, Mow claims 60% of ETH was minted out of thin air during its early launch phase—72 million coins were premined before people could mine the token.

Using Bitcoin’s scarcity model to place a value on Ethereum, the crypto investor stated that if ETH had a supply of just 21 million, like BTC, its price could have been around $9,300. Instead, he insists Ethereum is overvalued due to this high token count and early distribution practices.

Earlier this month, Ethereum price dropped to a multi-year low of $1,380 as global trade tensions escalated, causing a broader sell-off in crypto markets. However, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency quickly rebounded to $1,680 after President Trump announced a pause on new tariff hikes—except for China.

This volatility highlights how both major cryptocurrencies react strongly to geopolitical events, despite their differing use cases. While BTC is viewed as “digital gold” and is often touted for holding value during macroeconomic uncertainty, Ethereum is a platform that powers a burgeoning decentralized ecosystem.