Jessy, Golden Finance
The price of Ethereum is just shy of $4,000, just over three months after plummeting below $1,500 in April, drawing widespread condemnation. During these three months, its price has significantly outperformed Bitcoin's. Throughout July, it surged nearly 60%. From the frantic sell-offs during the ICO era, to today's door-to-door sales by Wall Street evangelists, and even at the high of $3,800, even major whales are adding to their holdings.
Looking back, the rumors circulating at the beginning of the year that "Ethereum was changing hands" seem to have been confirmed. The power base of Ethereum seems to have shifted from early ICO whales and the Ethereum Foundation to the traditional financial establishment on Wall Street. But is this really the case?
Ethereum is no longer just a niche market, a turning point marked by the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF. Until then, Ethereum's technological innovations were the reason it maintained its unchallenged second place position in the industry. Back then, Ethereum's narrative was about decentralization, the source of crypto innovation, and the "world's computer." However, as crypto became integrated into mainstream finance and became a key component, Ethereum's narrative shifted to one that Wall Street could understand. This new narrative characterized Ethereum as the infrastructure and clearing layer of the global digital financial system, serving as the issuance and settlement platform for RWAs and stablecoins. July 30, 2025, marked the tenth anniversary of the launch of the Ethereum mainnet and the generation of its genesis block. On this anniversary, Ethereum had shed the plaid shirts of crypto geeks and donned the sharp suits of financial elites, accelerating towards the world of traditional finance. The mainstream financialization of crypto, the reshaping of Ethereum's narrative, occurred in May 2024, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission unexpectedly approved the centralized listing application for a spot Ethereum ETF. In their applications, asset management giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck extensively emphasized Ethereum's "compliance," "functionality," and "settlement capabilities," completely different from the speculative perspective of "cryptoassets" in the past. These ETFs began trading in July 2024, ushering in a new cycle of capital inflows. According to Bloomberg data, by July 2025, the combined assets under management of these Ethereum spot ETFs exceeded $5.5 billion. The approval of spot ETFs marked a landmark moment in the traditional world's recognition and acceptance of Ethereum. However, the approval of ETFs was merely superficial; the true shift in market structure was the formal recognition of Ethereum's role as a "compliant chain" by mainstream financial institutions. BlackRock has already launched BUIDL, an on-chain money market fund on the Ethereum mainnet, with underlying assets consisting of short-term U.S. Treasury bonds and cash. This move is considered the first time that U.S. Treasury bonds have appeared natively on Ethereum. Subsequently, institutions like Franklin Templeton and Fidelity also began tokenizing their assets, with Ethereum and its second-layer counterparts gradually becoming the underlying clearing platforms for the issuance and settlement of these "real-world assets." Ethereum remains the primary platform for stablecoin issuance. For example, the Trump Organization's USD1, launched this year, and Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin issued by Hong Kong Circle Technology both chose Ethereum as their primary issuance chain. Meanwhile, the recognition of traditional financial institutions has also led to larger and more robust purchases of Ethereum. SharpLink Gaming, a Nasdaq-listed company, increased its ETH holdings three times in two months, acquiring over 438,000 ETH, surpassing the Ethereum Foundation's holdings to become the world's largest institutional holder. Its Ethereum acquisition strategy has been described as an Ethereum version of MicroStrategy. However, unlike MicroStrategy, after a series of capital operations, SharpLink not only secured a significant amount of funds for ETH purchases, but also became the chairman of its board of directors, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. This company is essentially run by Ethereum veterans, imitating Bitcoin's strategies and promoting ETH as a "strategic asset" in traditional financial markets. In addition to SharpLink, publicly listed companies like BTCS are also raising funds to purchase Bitcoin through convertible notes. The people trading ETH haven't changed; their methods and narratives have evolved with the changing times. However, new traders have also joined the fray. This wave of "Ethereum pyramid schemes" isn't just seeing institutions listing ETFs and publicly listed companies increasing their holdings. There's also a group of secretive yet powerful "storytellers" active in closed-door meetings and investor roadshows, portraying Ethereum as the future "settlement layer" of global finance, the infrastructure for stablecoin issuance and RWA mapping. Tom Lee, Raoul Pal, and Cathie Wood are gradually shifting their focus from Bitcoin to Ethereum, and the narrative is quietly shifting. Ethereum, once touted as the "decentralized world computer," has now donned a suit, becoming what traditional financial circles call an "on-chain clearing network." Power wasn't surrendered, but extended. However, a deeper look reveals that the true power shift in this scenario isn't as simple as it appears. This "Ethereum turnover" isn't about ICO whales fleeing and Wall Street taking over. Wall Street isn't here to take over. Instead, they're drawn into this long-term capital game by the familiar language, rules, and structures of established players in the Ethereum ecosystem. SharpLink is a prime example. ConsenSys, a company closely associated with Ethereum, and other institutions acquired SharpLink through private equity financing. Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and founder and CEO of ConsenSys, serves as Chairman of SharpLink's Board of Directors. The push for strategic Ethereum reserves at the corporate level is intended to set a global benchmark and example, encouraging major companies to follow suit and use Ethereum as a treasury reserve, while also promoting Ethereum's acceptance in the traditional world. Meanwhile, while the Ethereum Foundation has temporarily reduced its direct involvement, the Layer 2 network distribution and Ethereum upgrades continue to operate smoothly under its leadership. From Polygon to StarkNet, from the OP Stack to EigenLayer, power hasn't been ceded, but rather extended and transformed. Ethereum's new order, whether in terms of technological development or capital and narrative, remains under the control of the Ethereum Foundation and its early interest groups. Using a new narrative and a new facade, they collaborate with Wall Street to tell a new story for Ethereum: no longer an "idealistic hacker utopia," but rather "the financial backbone of global digital assets." The market has embraced this narrative, with its price significantly outperforming Bitcoin's over the past three months. Ethereum's founder, Vitalik, once said his life's ambition was to bridge all things. Today, Ethereum is issuing a large number of stablecoins, US Treasury bonds, and US stocks, making it a bridge between traditional and crypto finance. On the other side of the bridge, there are no longer just crypto geeks and anonymous hackers, but Wall Street lawyers, market makers, ETF traders, and a huge capital structure that is trying to tokenize "the whole world."
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