In line with Vivek Raman, CEO and co-founder of Etherealize, the value of Ethereum might regulate to $15,000 in 2026 as conventional finance accelerates with tokenization, stablecoins, and customized layer 2 blockchains based mostly on Ethereum.
In a visitor submit on January 5, Raman characterised 2026 as the purpose at which ETH transitions from a decade of belief constructing to an period of business deployment, arguing that “Ethereum would be the finest place to do enterprise from 2026 onwards” as regulatory postures, institutional precedent, and infrastructure maturity converge.
Establishments will tokenize Ethereum
Raman's core argument is that tokenization is shifting from proof of idea to scaled product deployment, with Ethereum more and more serving as the bottom layer authority of alternative when belongings are excessive in worth and operational necessities are stringent. He describes tokenization as a enterprise course of improve that reduces belongings, knowledge, and funds to a shared infrastructure, leaning closely on the concept as soon as establishments expertise efficiencies, there isn’t any turning again.
“Tokenization upgrades all the enterprise course of by digitizing belongings, knowledge, and funds onto the identical infrastructure,” Raman wrote. “Belongings (shares, bonds, actual property, and so forth.) and cash will have the ability to transfer on the pace of the web. This can be a clear improve to the monetary system that ought to have occurred many years in the past. Public world blockchains like Ethereum make this potential right now.”
The submit cites examples of institutional tokenization exercise on Ethereum, together with JPMorgan and Constancy's cash market fund initiative, BlackRock's tokenized fund BUIDL, Apollo's non-public credit score fund ACRED (with liquidity concentrated in Ethereum and L2), and European participation comparable to Amundi, which is tokenizing euro-denominated cash market funds. Raman additionally pointed to BNY Mellon's tokenized merchandise and a tokenized bond fund plan linked to Baillie Gifford that covers Ethereum and the L2 community.
Stablecoins as a “Inexperienced Gentle” Second
Raman positioned stablecoins as the most effective product marketplace for on-chain finance, citing “over $10 trillion in stablecoin transfers by 2025” and asserting that “60% of all stablecoins are on Ethereum and Layer 2 networks.” Describing the passage of the GENIUS Act of 2025 because the second when public chain stablecoin Rail successfully acquired official approval, he argued that regulatory developments within the US have decreased the chance of institutional deployments.
As a short-term knowledge level, Raman highlighted SoFi's reported launch of SoFiUSD, a stablecoin issued by the financial institution on a “public, permissionless blockchain,” and added that the financial institution selected Ethereum. He recommended that that is the start of a wider wave by which funding banks, neobanks and fintechs wish to subject stablecoins, both alone or by means of consortium constructions, inside a single public chain ecosystem to maximise community results.
Layer 2 as an institutional enterprise mannequin
A key a part of Raman's thesis hinges on the concept establishments is not going to converge on a single chain, however slightly on a single, interconnected community of Ethereum and its layer 2 ecosystem. He argued that L2 inherits the safety and liquidity of Ethereum whereas providing customization based mostly on jurisdiction and buyer base, and described the L2 financial system as very engaging to operators, citing “90%+ revenue margins” as a purpose for firms to need their very own chains.
Raman listed examples together with Robinhood's plans for Coinbase's Base, Ethereum L2 that includes tokenized shares and different belongings, SWIFT's use of Ethereum L2 Linea for funds, JPMorgan deploying tokenized deposits on Base, and Deutsche Financial institution constructing a publicly permissioned community as Ethereum L2.
$15,000 Ethereum worth goal
Raman additionally argued that ETH is rising as an institutional treasury asset alongside Bitcoin, describing BTC as “digital gold” and ETH as “digital oil,” a productive retailer of worth related to ecosystem financial actions.
He pointed to 4 public “equal to MicroStrategy” firms accumulating ETH: BitMine Immersion (BMNR), Sharplink Gaming (SBET), The Ether Machine (ETHM), and Bit Digital (BTBT), and claimed to have bought about 4.5% of the ETH provide over the previous six months. This compares to MicroStrategy's 3.2% BTC possession.
These dynamics help his set of “five-fold” predictions for 2026. Tokenized belongings will develop to round $100 billion (estimated at round $18 billion in 2025, after rising from round $6 billion, “66% from Ethereum and its L2”), stablecoin market capitalization will develop from $308 billion to $1.5 trillion, and ETH will improve fivefold to $15,000. His framing.
At press time, ETH was buying and selling at $3,227.
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