Etherealize, a prominent Ethereum advocacy firm, has successfully closed a $40 million funding round aimed at expanding the blockchain’s presence in Wall Street. This announcement comes in a week when public companies have collectively added over $1.2 billion worth of Ether to their treasuries, signaling a growing interest in the cryptocurrency sector.
The funding round was led by notable venture firms Electric Capital and Paradigm, with Etherealize stating that the capital will be utilized to enhance institutional adoption of the Ethereum network. Launched in January, the firm was initially funded by the Ethereum Foundation and co-founder Vitalik Buterin to promote education around the blockchain and its native currency, Ether (ETH).
Despite Ethereum’s potential, Wall Street’s engagement with ETH remains limited compared to Bitcoin (BTC), particularly reflected in trading volumes and inflows to exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Etherealize co-founder Grant Hummer highlighted the need for better education within institutions regarding ETH, particularly in the context of various ETF launches that have taken place.
In terms of its strategic plans, Etherealize intends to allocate the recently acquired funds towards the creation of financial tools designed specifically for institutions. This includes building infrastructure for the private trading and settlement of tokenized assets, a settlement platform tailored to institutional tokenization workflows, and applications focused on markets for tokenized fixed-income products like bonds.
Danny Ryan, co-founder of Etherealize, emphasized that Ethereum has evolved from an experimental project into a robust, open financial network. The recent funding will facilitate upgrades aimed at modernizing institutional finance, making it safer and more globally accessible.
In conjunction with Etherealize’s funding success, public firms have made significant moves this week, amassing $1.26 billion worth of ETH. The Ether Machine, a crypto treasury company preparing for a public offering, made headlines with a substantial addition of 150,000 ETH on Tuesday, totaling approximately $654 million. BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest holder of ETH, also announced that it acquired over 150,000 ETH recently and added another $65 million worth on Wednesday.
Other notable purchases include Sharplink Gaming and Hong Kong-listed Yunfeng Financial, which respectively acquired $176 million and $44 million in ETH on Tuesday.
Amid these developments, Nick Forster, founder of the crypto options platform Derive, conveyed optimism regarding Ether’s price trajectory as the Federal Reserve potentially considers a rate cut. He noted that firms purchasing ETH now represent nearly 4% of the token supply. Given the current market dynamics, Forster predicts that this could increase to 6-10% by the end of the year, positioning these companies as influential participants in ETH’s price movements.
Currently, Ether is trading at just under $4,400, having experienced a modest increase of 1.8% for the day but remaining down 11.5% from its peak of around $4,950 observed on August 24. Market analysts express a growing sentiment that Ether could see significant price escalations in the near future, with some predicting a 44% probability of reaching $6,000 by year’s end and a 30% chance of hitting that milestone by the end of October.
