• Ethereum supporters explained why the network is experiencing its "internet moment."
• In a study on the future of blockchain infrastructure, the authors drew parallels between Ethereum, the open internet, and Linux.
• In their view, the history of technology shows that open and neutral platforms ultimately displace closed corporate solutions.

Ethereum found itself at the center of one of the crypto market's most important debates. In particular, Etherealize co-founder Vivek Raman stated:

"Ethereum is the internet moment for the global financial system."

Ethereum supporters compare it to the internet

zkSync founder Alex Gluchowski stated that Ethereum remains the only neutral infrastructure on which competing financial giants can coexist.

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"Stripe wants everything to happen on Tempo, JP Morgan wants everything to happen on JP Morgan Chain, Circle wants everything to happen on Arc, and so on. They will never agree. Major players will never agree to build on another major player's infrastructure. That is exactly why Ethereum is the only option," he noted.

The study's authors note that a similar situation was already observed in the mid-1990s, when most technology companies were convinced that the future belonged to closed corporate networks. At the time, many experts believed that e-commerce would operate through the proprietary platforms of Microsoft, Oracle, and other tech giants rather than through the open internet.

However, in the end it was the open model that won. A similar story happened with Linux, which gradually displaced expensive corporate Unix systems thanks to thousands of independent developers who could freely improve the software.

Ethereum supporters believe that the blockchain is repeating this path. Unlike corporate networks, any developer can create applications, standards, or financial products without obtaining permission from a central organization. This is exactly how the ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards emerged at the time, becoming the foundation for stablecoins, NFTs, and thousands of crypto projects.

Uniswap is often cited as a telling example. The world's largest decentralized exchange essentially grew out of a concept proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, after which engineer Hayden Adams implemented it without the support of large financial structures or venture corporations.

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This model is based on the concept of "credible neutrality," popularized by Buterin himself. It implies that the network's rules are transparent to all participants, apply equally to every user, and cannot be arbitrarily changed by a single company or state.

According to Ethereum supporters, it is precisely this property that makes the network attractive to international business and financial institutions. While a corporate blockchain always has an owner who can potentially change the rules of the game, Ethereum is positioned as an independent global infrastructure.

As an additional argument, they cite the failures of a number of major banking blockchain projects. In particular, between 2017 and 2022, initiatives such as We.trade, Marco Polo, and Contour, which were backed by dozens of international banks, ceased operations or were shut down. 

Also, in 2022, the Australian Securities Exchange abandoned a large-scale project to modernize its infrastructure based on a private blockchain after years of development and significant costs.

Against this backdrop, Ethereum continued to develop, retaining its status as the largest platform for decentralized finance, asset tokenization, and smart contracts. According to Token Terminal, Ethereum controls:

• 79% of active DeFi loans among the largest blockchains;
• 62% of the stablecoin market;
• 73% of tokenized funds;
• 84% of tokenized commodity assets.

Among the large companies that use Ethereum's infrastructure, Coinbase, Robinhood, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Aave, Maker, and Maple are also named.

Institutions use Ethereum, but are they buying the asset?

Despite the ecosystem's development, debates continue over the investment appeal of the second-largest cryptocurrency by capitalization.

Analyst Evas drew attention to a paradoxical situation. According to him, large financial institutions are actively entering the Ethereum ecosystem but are in no hurry to accumulate the token itself.

Among the latest examples, he cited:

• over $2 billion of BlackRock assets in the BUIDL fund;
• a partnership between Janus Henderson and Ethena in the area of tokenized CLOs;
• Morpho raising $175 million in the largest funding round in DeFi history.

At the same time, the analyst stressed:

"Capital is flowing into synthetic dollars, tokenized treasury bonds, and protocol equity, completely bypassing Ethereum as an asset."

In his opinion, the thesis that ETF products will automatically become a driver of Ethereum's growth is not yet being confirmed by the market.

At the same time, other market participants see the current weakness as an opportunity for accumulation.

According to Lookonchain, the investment company K3 Capital withdrew 10,000 ETH worth about $16.9 million from Binance. Also, a wallet linked to entrepreneur Chun Wang additionally withdrew 7,650 ETH worth nearly $13 million.

In contrast, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes incurred losses during short-term operations with Ethereum. According to analysts, over four days he accumulated 5,900 ETH at an average price of $1,793 and then sold 6,000 ETH at $1,690, locking in a loss of approximately $606,000.

Banks forecast growth, but risks remain

Standard Chartered analysts believe the market is underestimating Ethereum's fundamental condition. The bank compared the current situation to Amazon after the dot-com crash in 2001. Experts allow for the asset to potentially grow 20-fold over the long term and forecast it could possibly reach the $40,000 mark.

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Market sentiment may additionally support the recovery scenario. Santiment stated that Ethereum has entered a so-called "fear zone." The share of negative mentions of the asset on social media reached one of the highest levels this year, which historically has often preceded a trend reversal.

Another important signal was the record open interest in Ethereum futures on Binance. According to CryptoQuant, the figure reached nearly 3.7 million ETH, while the exchange's share of the derivatives market exceeded 44%.

However, not all assessments remain optimistic. Former Ethereum Foundation employee Trent Van Epps warned of a potential ecosystem funding crisis. According to him, over the next 3-9 months the protocol's development may face a shortage of stable funding sources, which will require new governance mechanisms and developer support.

Source: Incrypted