When JPMorgan brings money market funds directly to Ethereum, when BlackRock puts the concept of "tokenization of everything" into practice, and when the U.S. Congress gives the green light to stablecoins—these seemingly disparate events are converging into a clear signal: 2026 could be Ethereum's "NVIDIA moment." But this story actually began a decade ago.

A Decade-Long March from the Laboratory to Wall Street

When Ethereum was born in 2015, no one could have imagined it would become the preferred infrastructure for global financial institutions. At that time, blockchain was just a toy for geeks, an idealistic experiment. A decade later, those ideals that were once mocked are turning into the most serious reality on Wall Street. This pivotal moment of transformation occurred in the past two years. JPMorgan is no longer just observing; it has directly deployed money market funds on Ethereum, becoming one of the first traditional banks to truly embrace public blockchains. Fidelity quickly followed, moving its core asset management business onto the Ethereum Layer 1 network. The tokenized money market fund BUIDL launched by BlackRock has set a benchmark for institutional adoption of Ethereum—this giant managing $10 trillion in assets is signaling to the market that asset tokenization is not just a concept, but an upgrade of the financial infrastructure for the next decade. The choices of these institutions are backed by clear logic. The transformation of assets through blockchain is akin to the reshaping of information by the internet. When stocks, bonds, and real estate can all circulate digitally around the globe in an instant, and when assets, data, and payments are integrated into the same infrastructure, the operational efficiency of the entire financial system will undergo a qualitative leap. This is not just a technological upgrade; it is a fundamental reconstruction of the underlying architecture—just as no company would abandon the internet to return to the era of fax machines, once the efficiency gains brought by blockchain are experienced, the traditional financial system will not turn back. Among all blockchains, Ethereum has become the default choice. Not because it is the cheapest or the fastest, but because it is the most neutral and secure global infrastructure. Just as the internet is not controlled by any single entity, Ethereum's value lies in its public nature—any institution can build on it, but no single institution can control it.

Stablecoins: The Rise of Digital Dollars

If asset tokenization is a long-term revolution in the financial system, then stablecoins are the first truly successful business model in this revolution. By 2025, the transfer volume of stablecoins surpassed $10 trillion. What does this number mean? It means that the dollar has quietly completed a "software upgrade"—from physical currency to digital currency that can be manipulated by code. The essence of stablecoins is simple: they are tokenized dollars that can circulate on the blockchain at internet speed and possess programmability. It sounds uncomplicated, but this seemingly simple innovation is changing the underlying logic of global finance. Imagine when cross-border payments no longer take three days and incur high fees, when businesses can automate all fund flows with smart contracts, and when ordinary people can hold digital dollars directly without relying on bank accounts—these changes combined represent a generational upgrade of the monetary system. More critically, the U.S. government has recognized the strategic value of stablecoins. The GENIUS Act passed in 2025 not only established a regulatory framework for stablecoins but also lit the green light for public blockchain infrastructure. The U.S. Treasury has repeatedly stated that stablecoins are a core tool for consolidating the dollar's hegemony in the 21st century. As the scale of the global digital economy grows, whoever can facilitate the circulation of their national currency in the digital world will hold the discourse power of the future financial system. On the battlefield of stablecoins, Ethereum is already far ahead. Currently, 60% of stablecoins are deployed on Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks; if we include chains compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, this ratio reaches 90%. When SoFi became the first bank to issue stablecoins on a public blockchain, the platform it chose was unsurprisingly Ethereum. This is just the beginning—investment banks, fintech companies, and even traditional commercial banks are lining up to issue their own stablecoins. The digital migration of the dollar has fully commenced, and Ethereum is the default destination for this great migration.

Layer 2 Revolution: Exclusive Blockchains for Every Enterprise

If Ethereum's mainnet is the "internet," then Layer 2 is the "exclusive website" that each enterprise builds on this internet. This analogy is not exaggerated—just as every company needs its own website, applications, and customized digital environment, many enterprises will also have their own Layer 2 blockchains in the future. This is not a theoretical concept but a reality that is happening. Coinbase has built the Base blockchain based on Ethereum Layer 2, enjoying Ethereum's security and liquidity while opening up a new source of revenue for itself. Robinhood is constructing its own exclusive chain, integrating tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and various assets. Even SWIFT, responsible for global interbank information transmission, has chosen the Ethereum Layer 2 network Linea to conduct blockchain settlement business. The allure of Layer 2 lies in its provision of a "best of both worlds" solution. Enterprises can gain the security and global liquidity of Ethereum's mainnet while maintaining their customization needs and profit margins. More importantly, these Layer 2 networks are interconnected, forming a connected financial network—just as various websites on the internet can link to each other, Layer 2s can also interact seamlessly. The advantage of this architecture is that the global financial market does not need to be concentrated on a single blockchain but can achieve synergy through an interconnected network. Robinhood explained its choice of building Layer 2 on Ethereum quite frankly: "Creating a truly decentralized secure chain is extremely difficult… and with Ethereum, we can default to security." This statement captures the core reason institutions choose Ethereum—security has been validated over a decade, liquidity has formed a network effect, and Layer 2 technology makes customization possible. For financial institutions that must consider regulation, compliance, and risk control, this is currently the optimal technological path.

From Regulatory Resistance to Policy Dividends

Without a shift in the regulatory environment, none of the above stories would have occurred. Financial institutions are not tech startups; they cannot "get on the bus and buy a ticket later," nor can they take risks in the regulatory gray area. The flow of high-value assets and large sums of money requires a clear legal framework and regulatory support. This is why 2025 became a critical turning point. Under the leadership of new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, the attitude of U.S. regulators has shifted from "preventing risks" to "supporting innovation." Atkins even publicly stated, "Within the next two years, all markets in the U.S. will operate on-chain." This is not an empty statement—the GENIUS Act has already paved the way for stablecoins, and the upcoming CLARITY Act will provide a complete legal framework for asset tokenization. More important signals come from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Although this organization is not a government agency, it is the core infrastructure operator of the U.S. securities market. Its every move determines whether the traditional financial system can connect with emerging blockchain technology. In 2025, the DTCC clearly expressed support for asset tokenization, allowing assets held in its system to circulate on public blockchains. The significance of this decision cannot be overstated—it effectively grants a "bridge" pass for the traditional financial system to connect with the blockchain world. For over a decade, blockchain has been exploring in the gray area of regulation. Now, at least in the U.S., this situation has completely changed. Regulation is no longer a hindrance but has become a facilitator. This shift has cleared the final barriers for institutions to adopt Ethereum on a large scale.

ETH: From "Digital Oil" to Institutional Asset

Once these infrastructures, application scenarios, and regulatory environments are in place, an inevitable question arises: how will the value of ETH itself be reassessed? Bitcoin has already established the narrative of "digital gold"—it is a store of value and a hedge against inflation. MicroStrategy has set a model for institutions holding BTC through continuous purchases of Bitcoin. Now, the same story is being replayed with ETH, but the script is different. ETH is not "digital gold," but more like "digital oil"—it is not just a store of value; it is the fuel and underlying asset of the entire Ethereum economic system. Holding ETH is akin to holding equity in a "new financial internet." As the scale of asset tokenization expands, as stablecoins become widely adopted, and as more Layer 2 networks are built on Ethereum, the demand and value of ETH will rise accordingly. In the past six months, four "MicroStrategy-like" companies have collectively purchased about 4.5% of the circulating supply of ETH, and this process has only just begun. MicroStrategy's holding of 3.2% of Bitcoin's supply has propelled the institutionalization of BTC, and now this story is accelerating with ETH. The difference is that ETH has richer application scenarios and a clearer value growth logic behind it—user numbers, asset scale, transaction frequency, and the growth of Layer 2 networks will all directly reflect in the value of ETH. Market expectations have already begun to manifest. By 2025, the total value of tokenized assets on the blockchain will grow from $60 billion to $180 billion, with 66% deployed on Ethereum. The scale of stablecoins will reach $308 billion, with 60% on the Ethereum network. These numbers are just the beginning—when 20-30% of the $22.3 trillion in circulating dollars migrate to the blockchain, and when asset tokenization moves from the experimental phase to large-scale deployment, the value anchoring of the Ethereum network will undergo fundamental changes. Some analysts predict that by 2026, ETH will achieve at least a fivefold increase in value, reaching a market capitalization of $2 trillion—comparable to Bitcoin's current market cap. This sounds aggressive, but if you believe that the financial system is undergoing a fundamental architectural upgrade, and if you believe that Ethereum has become the default platform for this upgrade, then this prediction is not a pipe dream but a natural result of logical deduction.

A Quiet Revolution

Looking back over the past two years, a clear trend is forming: giants like JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Fidelity, which manage trillions of dollars in assets, are not "testing the waters" with blockchain; they are fully betting on Ethereum. They are not attracted by hype but are making strategic choices after careful consideration. When these institutions migrate their core businesses to Ethereum, when the U.S. government gives the green light to public blockchains, and when Layer 2 technology makes customized blockchains possible—all these factors combined are triggering a quiet revolution. This revolution is not accompanied by much fanfare. There are no fervent community movements, no overwhelming marketing hype, and even little media attention. But it is profoundly changing the underlying logic of the financial system. Just like the expansion of the internet in the 1990s, when infrastructure matures, application scenarios become clear, and regulatory frameworks are established, the remaining factor is just a matter of time. For Ethereum, 2026 may be that critical point. Not because the technology suddenly becomes better, nor because some killer application emerges, but because all the accumulations have reached a moment of fruition. A decade of technological refinement, two years of institutional pilots, combined with a complete shift in the regulatory environment—when these conditions are met simultaneously, what follows is explosive growth. This is Ethereum's "internet moment"—not a specific event or product launch, but the point at which the entire ecosystem transitions from "possibility" to "inevitability." Just like in the mid-1990s, when browsers, search engines, and e-commerce all matured, the internet transformed from a geek toy into a commercial infrastructure. Now, the same story is unfolding on Ethereum. And those institutions and individuals who choose to double down at this moment may find, years later, that they were standing at the starting point of a paradigm shift.