Ethereum's Identity Crisis: Etherealize Bridges Crypto and Wall Street

Ethereum's Wall Street Cheerleader: Etherealize Bridges Traditional Finance and Crypto

Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain platform by market capitalization, is facing an identity crisis. Its native token, ether (ETH), has underperformed against competitors, and long-time builders are questioning whether the chain's technology is falling behind and if its community is losing focus. The Ethereum Foundation, which stewards the network's development, has been criticized for many of the network's struggles. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin is spearheading a massive leadership shake-up at the organization, but his central influence over the process has sparked controversy. Meanwhile, rival ecosystems like Solana are capitalizing on the uncertainty, attracting top talent and outpacing ETH in the market.

Amid this turbulence, a new project called Etherealize is aiming to bring ETH to Wall Street. Founded by former banker Vivek Raman, Etherealize seeks to bridge the gap between traditional finance and Ethereum, positioning ETH as a serious asset class. Raman, who spent a decade in banking before discovering crypto, believes his traditional finance background gives him a unique perspective. He has spent the past four years laying the groundwork for Etherealize, choosing to launch in January – a time of heightened market optimism driven by expectations of a crypto-friendly White House, even as Ethereum grapples with internal disputes and price stagnation.

In an interview with CoinDesk's Margaux Nijkerk, Raman talks about how he came to create Etherealize, how that group is marketing ETH on Wall Street, and discusses banks' views on layer-2 rollups. Etherealize is positioning ETH as a viable alternative to traditional financial assets, and Raman believes that the project's success will depend on its ability to attract institutional investors.

Avalanche, a DeFi-focused smart-contract blockchain, has seen a significant decrease in user costs since the implementation of the Avalanche9000 upgrade on Dec. 16. The proof-of-stake blockchain's usage fees, known as gas, have averaged roughly 75% less than in the months beforehand, data from Flipside and Bitquery show. The number of transactions has increased by 38% to an average of 354,691 a day. Avalanche, the world's fifth-largest smart-contract blockchain by the