⏬ [Analysis] The collapse of ETH is inevitable - Jeremy Rubin

According to Rubin, Ethereum as a network could succeed in its goals while the value of ($ETH) as an asset will eventually hit zero. Currently, Ethereum miners are paid gas fees in ETH. Rubin focuses on, "economic abstraction" which could allow users to user ERC20 tokens for gas instead. The four main counterarguments to economic abstraction on Ethereum include:

• Software support: Ethereum would need to change how ETH is handled vs. ERC20 tokens. Rubin argues that the software should adapt if users demand it and that efforts like "wrapped tokens" are already removing the gap between ETH and other tokens.
• Market pricing: A range of pricing information would be required by miners to reconcile different asset prices. Special software would be required to allow miners to dynamically re-order pending transactions based on pricing to decide which transactions to include. To Rubin, this is similar to the current system where miners require pricing information to model future ETH prices before mining (or staking) to maximize profits.
• Non-token contracts: Contracts without their own token, or contracts with a token that is not liquid or widely accepted, would not be able to pay fees in the same way as popular ERC20 contracts. Rubin proposes that contracts use whichever token they want potentially through custom wallets that can negotiate fees and decentralized exchanges.
• Proof-of-stake: As Ethereum shifts to proof-of-stake (PoS) users will be required to stake ETH to participate in validation. According to Rubin, this could also be accomplished with multiple underlying assets in a modified consensus mechanism.

If it is possible for applications to run without ETH there is no reason for it to be valuable, unless miners require it. But, if miners are uncoordinated, mutually disinterested, and rational, they would prefer to be paid in assets of their own choosing rather than in something like ETH, according to Rubin, who adds that users and token projects too could benefit from economic abstraction.