Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood shared an analysis by Ark Director of Research Lorenzo Valiente on Wednesday that maps the business models of several major cryptocurrencies to those of fast food companies.
Valiente described Ethereum as analogous to McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD). In this comparison, Ethereum functions as a brand owner and operating system, establishing standards such as ERC-20. It also provides the underlying infrastructure, or "real estate," which consists of blockspace and the Layer 1 settlement guarantee that Layer 2 chains rely upon.
Solana was compared to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG). Like Chipotle, which owns every store and controls the entire customer experience and operations, Solana is characterized by having all activity concentrated on its Layer 1 chain without the use of middleware or Layer 2 layers.
Hyperliquid was mapped to In-N-Out Burger. The Ark Invest executive noted that In-N-Out is a privately held company that never franchises and focuses on a small menu. Similarly, Hyperliquid was described as being built by a "small team" and as having never taken outside capital.
Wood commented that Valiente’s framework provides a "digestible way to understand" these distinct business models. She stated that blockchains have existed for more than a decade and that new launches will continue to occur.
At the time of the report, Ethereum was trading at $2,468.31, down 0.77% over the previous 24 hours. Solana was priced at $101.97, down 2.45%, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) was down 3.13% to $83.90.
