Real Vision founder Raoul Pal argues that Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), and Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) are the three blockchains that will dominate the next decade, with everything else becoming either a specialist or irrelevant.

Why Layer Ones Beat Everything Else Over The Long Term

Pal’s core argument is that layer one blockchains are the infrastructure layer of the global digital economy, and infrastructure concentrates into three to five dominant players just like operating systems, cloud computing, and every major network before them. 

Unlike Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), which has one job as a global savings asset, smart contract layer ones can scale infinitely as more economic activity moves on-chain.

“If you were to pull the plug on Ethereum today, how much economic value do you destroy?” Pal asked on the When Shift Happens podcast. 

“Every layer two, all of DeFi, all the real-world assets, all of NFTs, everything that’s been built on ETH goes to zero.”

He argued ETH is already undervalued relative to the economic density it supports, with the entire financial system still in the early stages of migrating onto Ethereum and its layer twos.

The Three Chains That Held Economic Density When Markets Fell 80%

Pal’s selection process centers on what he calls economic and intelligence density, which measures how much economic activity, developer output, and programmatic efficiency a chain produces per unit of energy. 

When crypto markets fell 80%, only three chains maintained their economic density without losing ground: Ethereum, Solana, and Sui.

Ethereum wins on developer count, Lindy effects, security, and economic density despite being slower and more expensive. 

Solana is faster, cheaper, and more efficient with solid density. Sui is the earliest stage of the three but shows more TVL per user than Solana at the same age, faster block finality by an order of magnitude, and superior programmability.

Why Discounted Cash Flow Analysis Misses The Real Signal

Pal argued that valuing blockchains by fee generation is fundamentally wrong. The entire purpose of a network is to be the cheapest and fastest, meaning low fees are a feature, not a weakness. 

The real signal is programmability, speed to finality, and developer density.

“Cheapest, fastest, most programmable will outperform over time,” Pal stated. 

He described owning a basket of three to five layer ones as a strategy where investors can step away for a decade and return significantly wealthier.

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