Ethereum backers launch nonprofit to lead institutional adoption effortsBacked by Joe Lubin, BitMine and SharpLink, the independent organization will serve as a liaison for financial institutions exploring Ethereum as competition for institutional capital heats up.
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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A new independent nonprofit called Ethereum Institutional has been launched to coordinate Ethereum’s outreach to banks, asset managers, and other financial institutions. The initiative is backed by prominent figures and entities including Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, and major ETH treasury holders BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink. The organization aims to serve as a credible liaison for institutions exploring Ethereum, providing education, developing standards, conducting industry research, and hosting events across global financial hubs such as New York, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
This launch highlights the ecosystem’s push for greater institutional adoption amid increasing competition from rival blockchains. Ethereum currently dominates key markets relevant to institutions, hosting nearly 58% of the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) market and accounting for about half of the $311 billion stablecoin market, according to Token Terminal and DeFiLlama data cited in the report. Despite Ethereum’s market leadership, ETH prices have been under pressure recently, with the token trading near $1,620 and having declined sharply from over $4,000 in October. This price drop has contributed to significant unrealized losses on the books of companies holding large ETH treasuries, including BitMine and SharpLink.
The formation of Ethereum Institutional coincides with substantial organizational changes within the Ethereum Foundation, which supports core protocol development. The foundation has experienced leadership turnover and workforce reductions, including the departure of co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang and a 20% staff layoff. Meanwhile, the broader Ethereum ecosystem is seeing the emergence of independent bodies like Ethlabs, also backed by the same group behind the new nonprofit, dedicated to advancing Ethereum’s scalability.
Market participants such as Standard Chartered view these developments positively. Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered stated that the launch of Ethereum Institutional and Ethlabs will have “direct positive implications” for Ethereum’s layers and decentralized finance protocols, especially as traditional finance enters the ecosystem at scale. Kendrick reaffirmed his ETH price targets of $4,000 by the end of 2026 and $40,000 by the end of 2030, underscoring the potential they see in Ethereum’s institutional growth despite current market volatility.