# Beyond Hoarding: How Ethereum Can Break the Tragedy of the Digital Commons

By [C. Adam Stallard](https://paragraph.com/@adamstallard) · 2025-08-12

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The crypto world has a hoarding problem. While Ethereum promised to democratize finance and create new forms of value, too many participants have fallen into the same trap that has plagued economic systems for centuries: mistaking scarcity for value and accumulation for wealth creation. It's time we examine how people actually use ETH and other assets on Ethereum—and how we can do better.

The False Promise of Digital Scarcity
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Walk into any crypto discussion, and you'll hear familiar refrains: "diamond hands," "HODL," and "when moon?" These aren't just memes—they represent a fundamental misunderstanding of where true value comes from. The community has become obsessed with creating artificial scarcity rather than tools for building a more efficient and equitable financial system.

This behavior mirrors what economists call the "tragedy of the commons"—individuals acting in their own self-interest ultimately deplete shared resources. In Ethereum's case, the "commons" isn't a physical resource but the network's potential to create genuine utility and innovation. When participants focus primarily on accumulation and speculation, they undermine the collaborative value creation that makes blockchain technology revolutionary.

How We Actually Use Ethereum Assets (And Why It's Problematic)
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Let's be honest about how most people interact with tokens on Ethereum.

**Speculative Holding**: The majority of token holders are betting on price appreciation rather than using tokens for their intended utility. This creates volatility that makes the ecosystem less useful for real-world applications.

**Fear-Driven Accumulation**: Market participants hoard tokens during uncertainty, creating artificial scarcity that drives up prices and barriers to entry for new users who want to actually _use_ the network.

**Status Signaling**: Many users treat their portfolio size as a status symbol, focusing on accumulation over contribution to the ecosystem's growth and utility.

**Short-Term Thinking**: The focus on quick gains and market cycles prevents the long-term thinking necessary to build sustainable, valuable applications.

This behavior isn't inherently malicious—it's driven by fears about scarcity and uncertainty. But it's counterproductive to the vision of a decentralized financial system that creates value through collaboration and innovation rather than zero-sum competition.

The Psychology Behind Digital Hoarding
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Why do we keep falling into this trap? The answer lies in our evolutionary psychology:

**Scarcity Mindset**: Our brains are wired to hoard resources during uncertain times. Buffering against uncertainty is rational, but only to the extent that we might eventually use the buffer--otherwise we're keeping it from more productive uses.

**False Control**: Holding tokens provides an illusion of control in an unpredictable market. But this control is largely imaginary. Hoarding prevents deploying capital to create _real_ value (innovation)--to the detriment of all token holders.

**The Commons Dilemma**: When everyone believes resources are limited, individual rational behavior (accumulating as much as possible) leads to collective irrationality (making the commons less valuable for everyone).

The fundamental flaw in this thinking is that it treats digital assets like physical commodities, but code and networks become more valuable when they're used, not when they're hoarded.

What True Value Creation Looks Like
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Real value in the Ethereum ecosystem comes from:

**Innovation and Problem-Solving**: Building applications that solve genuine problems for real users. This creates utility that didn't exist before.

**Network Effects**: Each new participant who uses the network productively makes it more valuable for everyone else. This is the opposite of scarcity-driven value.

**Composability**: When developers build on each other's work, they create exponential value growth. This requires open access, not artificial barriers.

**Sustainable Economic Models**: Rewarding participants for contributions rather than just ownership creates long-term value for all stakeholders.

A Better Path Forward: Learning from New Models
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Platforms like [Updraft](https://www.updraft.fund) (launched June 2025 on Arbitrum) represent a new model for how we can interact with Ethereum assets more productively.

Instead of zero-sum thinking, Updraft invites everyone to co-own ideas and create value together, sharing in the benefits of collective success.

### Idea economy vs. jobs economy

Updraft moves beyond the typical "investor" -> "company" -> "employee" -> "job" barriers to collaboration. Any person or agent that

*   has an idea
    
*   knows a good idea when they see it or
    
*   can implement a solution
    

can start earning.

### Practical Steps Toward Better Value Creation

How can we start building a more collaborative and value-focused ecosystem?

**Use, Don't Just Hold**: Find productive ways to put your assets to work—supporting ideas, funding solutions, or participating in governance.

**Support Innovation**: Direct resources toward solving real problems.

**Think Long-Term**: Make decisions based on the long-term health and utility of the network rather than short-term price movements.

**Measure Success Differently**: Instead of just tracking portfolio value, consider your contribution to ecosystem growth and utility.

**Educate and Share**: Help others understand how to participate productively rather than just accumulate.

Breaking Free from the Tragedy
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The tragedy of the commons isn't inevitable—it's a coordination problem that can be solved with the right incentives and mindset. Ethereum has the technical infrastructure to support more collaborative and value-creating behaviors. What it needs is a cultural shift away from scarcity thinking and toward abundance through innovation.

This doesn't mean abandoning all investment thinking or expecting people to ignore financial incentives. Rather, it means aligning those incentives with behaviors that create genuine value for the entire ecosystem.

The future of Ethereum—and blockchain technology more broadly—depends on whether we can move beyond digital hoarding toward collaborative value creation. The technology itself is just a tool. Its ultimate value will be determined by how we choose to use it.

What will you do with Ethereum?

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_This post reflects my personal thoughts on value creation in the Ethereum ecosystem and my motivations for building in this space. The future of blockchain technology depends on how we collectively choose to participate in it._

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*Originally published on [C. Adam Stallard](https://paragraph.com/@adamstallard/beyond-hoarding-how-ethereum-can-break-the-tragedy-of-the-digital-commons)*
