Ethereum: A Global Public Good and Its Revaluation

Ethereum: A Global Public Good and Its Revaluation – Insights from William Mougayar

Ethereum is evolving beyond its role as a mere blockchain competing on speed and fees. It is emerging as a global public good that requires a new perspective on its valuation. William Mougayar, a blockchain thought leader, highlights this change, suggesting that Ethereum operates similarly to foundational technologies like the Internet. This article discusses the implications of this mindset shift and introduces a framework to understand Ethereum's value.

Key Takeaways

Ethereum is functioning as a global public good, comparable to foundational technologies like the Internet.
It is transitioning from being seen as merely an information protocol to a value protocol.
A new three-part framework for valuing Ethereum includes captured value, flow value, and trust surplus.
Trust surplus represents the economic advantages of reduced transaction friction and fraud.
Ethereum’s true competition lies not in other blockchains, but in transforming existing systems of global coordination.

What Is Ethereum

Ethereum: A New Perspective on Value

Ethereum is evolving beyond being just another blockchain that focuses on transaction speed or fees. It is increasingly recognized as a global public good; this transformation necessitates a new way of thinking about its true value.

William Mougayar, a prominent blockchain author and investor, articulated this perspective in a recent guest thread shared on the official Ethereum X account. He emphasized that Ethereum behaves “like a global public good: non-rivalrous, non-excludable, and system-enabling.” This comparison places Ethereum alongside critical technologies such as the Internet, GPS, and TCP/IP.

The Ethereum account reiterated that, similar to the early Internet, Ethereum’s genuine value may often go unnoticed. Systems at the infrastructure level typically yield significant economic impacts long before they are fully recognized and reflected in market prices.

From Information Protocol to Value Protocol

Mougayar’s analysis draws an insightful parallel between the Internet and Ethereum. While the Internet principally functions as an information protocol, Ethereum is emerging as a value protocol—a neutral settlement layer that facilitates the development of expansive economic systems.

On a fundamental level, both serve as public goods, promoting global participation without exclusion. However, the higher layers of these systems support private goods, institutional applications, and commercial activities. This layered framework elucidates why Ethereum's significance cannot be measured solely through transaction throughput or revenue from fees.

A New Way to Value Ethereum

To bridge the understanding gap, Mougayar proposes a new three-part framework for evaluating Ethereum as a public good. This framework comprises captured value, flow value, and trust surplus.

Captured value relates to traditional financial indicators like fees and token economics. Flow value assesses Ethereum’s broader contributions to decentralized applications, financial markets, and institutional contexts.

The concept of trust surplus—considered a unique element—encapsulates the economic value resulting from reduced friction in global transactions, as described by Mougayar.

The Global Trust Dividend

According to the Ethereum thread, trust surplus arises from factors including lower settlement friction, reduced verification costs, diminished counterparty risk, decreased fraud, and less reconciliation overhead. This “trust dividend” grows over time as more users and institutions engage with the network. This perspective also redefines Ethereum's competitive landscape.

Instead of directly competing with other blockchain technologies, Ethereum is fundamentally “competing with the status quo of global coordination.”

Competing with Existing Systems, Not Other Blockchains

Just as the Internet transformed information flow, Ethereum is reshaping how value is exchanged, settled, and trusted across borders. The report contends that Ethereum's long-term resilience will not be defined by short-term profits or transaction efficiency, but rather by its ability to minimize trust, facilitate economic settlements, and enable institutional adoption on a global scale.

“If you want to understand Ethereum’s value to the world,” states the Ethereum account, “focus on dependency, flows, and trust minimization. That’s where public-good value accrues.”