Ethereum's ETH surges 6% as firms embrace blockchain for tokenization

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his satisfaction with the blockchain's progress during his keynote at EthCC 2025 in Cannes. The event, held at the Palais des Festivals, brought together developers, company leaders, and institutions to discuss the advancements and future of Ethereum. Buterin highlighted that Ethereum's success has surpassed everyone's expectations, emphasizing its reliability and stability as key factors driving institutional adoption.

Buterin noted that institutions value Ethereum not for its speed, but for its dependability and resistance to censorship. Long-term features such as privacy and censorship resistance are crucial for firms looking to integrate blockchain technology into their operations. This sentiment was echoed by Tomasz Stańczak, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, who emphasized Ethereum's commitment to security and censorship resistance over the past decade.

Several major firms have recently announced initiatives that leverage Ethereum's infrastructure. Robinhood launched tokenized stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum, a Layer 2 solution built on Ethereum, marking the first time a U.S.-listed company has put stocks onchain using Ethereum rails. This move underscores the growing integration of Ethereum-based networks in traditional financial markets. Additionally, Deutsche Bank is developing a tokenization platform on zkSync, another Ethereum-based Layer 2 network, to issue and manage tokenized funds and stablecoins while meeting regulatory standards.

BlackRock has also entered the Ethereum ecosystem with the launch of BUIDL, a tokenized money market fund that provides onchain access to yield with USDC redemptions. This fund, available to qualified investors, demonstrates how traditional financial institutions are utilizing Ethereum tokenization to create innovative financial products. Coinbase and Kraken have further expanded their Ethereum-based offerings, with Coinbase filing paperwork to offer tokenized public equities and Kraken planning to launch 24/7 tokenized stock trading in selected international markets.

During EthCC 2025, Ethereum's native token ETH experienced a nearly 6% price increase. Several public companies with ties to Ethereum also saw significant stock gains. BitMine Immersion Technologies' share price surged by over 1,200% after shifting its treasury reserve to ETH, while Bit Digital, which exited Bitcoin mining to focus on Ethereum staking, gained 34%. SharpLink Gaming added $20 million worth of ETH to its balance sheet and saw its stock rise 28%. These developments highlight the growing confidence in Ethereum among public firms.

Ethereum stablecoins continue to play a crucial role in the financial ecosystem, handling around 50% of the total stablecoin market share. This dominance underscores Ethereum's importance in the broader financial landscape. Bettina Boon Falleur, who leads EthCC, noted that this year's conference focused on systems rather than markets, with a particular emphasis on bringing Ethereum to the next billion users. Buterin concluded his keynote by emphasizing Ethereum's commitment to values such as openness, permissionless access, and network neutrality as it scales globally.