Former Ethereum Developer: Crypto Industry’s Focus on Vanity Metrics is Misleading VCs into Continued Funding

Former Ethereum developer Max Resnick took to social media on May 27 to slam a large number of on-chain "metrics" in the crypto industry as essentially a scam, designed to push venture capital firms to keep pouring more money into the space. He specifically called out restaking-related data, noting that "the same ETH is counted at least ten times." Resnick also raised questions about how metrics are defined on most on-chain data platforms, stating, "Every time you carefully examine how these websites calculate their metrics, you’ll find they’re either incorrect or meaningless—they can’t truly measure what they claim to represent." Resnick further pointed to the continuing deterioration of data for the cryptocurrency lending sector, warning that if the industry fails to face reality and address problems honestly, "the situation will only get worse." He emphasized, "The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that it’s a problem." This isn’t Resnick’s only notable career shift in crypto: On December 10, 2024, the Ethereum ecosystem developer announced he had resigned from his position at Consensys to join Anza, a Solana-based development company.