Ethereum is gaining institutional traction, and co-founder Joe Lubin believes that the future of the decentralized programmable blockchain is now.
Lubin made this statement on the Bloomberg Close show on July 28, amid the pent-up demand for Ethereum. The Ethereum co-founder, who is also the chairman of treasury firm SharpLink, noted that despite a slower adoption rate compared to Bitcoin in its early days, the time for Ethereum has finally arrived.
For context, host Romain Bostick asked why Ethereum did not gain instant traction like Bitcoin did in its early days. In response, Lubin noted that institutions did not recognize Ethereum’s value proposition as quickly as they did Bitcoin, whose status as digital gold emerged early on.
Nonetheless, although it took longer than Bitcoin, the Ethereum co-founder insisted that institutions are now gravitating towards Ethereum.
Ethereum’s Future Is Now
Lubin agreed with FundStrat’s CIO Tom Lee, who said earlier that Ethereum is the next Bitcoin. For context, Lee shared this line of sentiment in June, citing a Wall Street convergence to utilize the Ethereum network, with its stablecoin proficiency the primary lure.
Notably, Lubin, who is also CEO of Consensys, shared a new narrative for this growing adoption. He told Bloomberg that enterprises and financial institutions have now recognized they can leverage Ethereum’s decentralized programmability to enhance transactions and agreements.
The Ethereum network was the first to introduce smart contract programmability, a capability that paved the way for decentralized finance. This trustware has enabled users to perform various activities on Ethereum beyond simple settlements, while also automating transactions for a stress-free execution.
These capabilities are now beginning to catch the eye of institutions, Lubin emphasized. He projected that Ethereum’s offering of guaranteed execution, verifiability, and automatically enforceable agreements is fueling the emerging traction, and this is still in its early stages.
Yield-Bearing Makes Ethereum Treasury Better Than Bitcoin’s
Furthermore, Lubin lauded the efforts of Strategy’s Michael Saylor in driving Bitcoin adoption and the wave of corporate adoption seen a few months back. However, he noted that Ethereum’s corporate treasury strategies offer better profitability compared to Bitcoin’s.
For context, he shared that the Ethereum treasury firms can do “a lot more” with their Ether stash than their Bitcoin counterparts. He stressed that Ethereum is a productive and yielding asset that can be multiplied through staking and other DeFi ventures.
This way, they can grow their stash directly and much faster. Lubin noted that SharpLink Gaming has been accumulating Ethereum massively and is fully harnessing this yield-bearing mechanism.
Notably, these advantages boil down to a lack of native DeFi capabilities on the Bitcoin network. Hence, Bitcoin treasury firms rely primarily on the price performance of Bitcoin to generate yield for investors.
Nonetheless, Lubin’s SharpLink faces stiff competition from other Ethereum treasury firms, such as Bitmine Immersion and BitDigital. Currently, Bitmine leads the standings with approximately 566,800 ETH ($2.16 billion), followed by SharpLink with roughly 360,800 ETH ($1.37 billion).
Moreover, Ethereum reserve strategies now hold a combined 2.33 million ETH ($8.87 billion), accounting for 1.93% of the asset’s supply.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
