It’s undeniable that stablecoins like USDT and USDC have greatly contributed to Ethereum’s utility and daily transaction volume. Especially in DeFi, where they serve as the primary unit of account and settlement. But to say Ethereum would be worthless without them seems like an exaggeration.
Ethereum’s value isn’t solely tied to stablecoins. It's about programmable money and the flexibility of smart contracts. Even without stablecoins, ETH powers a wide ecosystem. From NFTs and DAOs to rollups, gaming, and more. In fact, some L2s like Arbitrum and Base are gaining traction precisely because of ETH’s versatility, not just stablecoin settlement. Also, banning a stablecoin like USDT wouldn’t "ban" Ethereum. Tether or Circle could be pressured to freeze assets or comply with regulations, but Ethereum remains a decentralized global platform. These tokens are contracts on Ethereum.  not Ethereum itself.  And while Bitcoin L2s with stablecoin-like instruments would be a great evolution (e.g. Fedimint, Lightning-issued stable assets), they’re not as flexible or mature yet.
In short: stablecoins boosted Ethereum’s usage, yes. but ETH is still standing on its own innovation.