Ethereum establishes itself as the preferred infrastructure of financial institutions

The so-called Ethereum Killer blockchains are stirring to nibble away market shares and gain media spotlight. But deep down, in reality as in collective perception, there is only one master. Its name comes up in every conference, every strategic plan, every institutional tweet. Ethereum is no longer just a technology of the crypto-sphere: it is an architecture that banks, Web giants, and fintechs now consider their common foundation. And this movement is no longer theoretical.

From banks to blockchain: when institutional finance bets everything on Ethereum

Traditional finance long regarded blockchain as a technological curiosity. That time is over. UBS, Sygnum, and PostFinance have crossed a historic threshold by testing interbank deposit tokens on Ethereum, demonstrating that the public network could serve for legal and instantaneous settlement between institutions. JPMorgan, on its side, migrated its JPM Coin onto Base, an L2 solution of the network, to meet the demand for institutional payments on a public infrastructure.

On X, Ethereum’s official account summarized this shift:

Ethereum is the first choice for global financial institutions. Over the past months, adoption has accelerated.

The CFTC even paved the way for using ETH as collateral in US derivative markets, a strong symbol of integration. European, Asian, and American banks now converge toward a single protocol: Ethereum becomes the shared infrastructure of global finance, without prior authorization or geographic borders.

When AI and Web giants reinvent programmable finance on Ethereum

While banks connect, technology also takes root. Google, in collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation, MetaMask, and Coinbase, has presented its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). This system allows AI agents to make autonomous payments in stablecoins on Ethereum. A huge step towards automated, transparent, and programmable finance.

Other giants are following suit. Fidelity and Amundi have launched tokenized money market funds, while Mastercard and Stripe open recurring payments in USDC on the same infrastructure. Even American Express gets involved, with travel NFTs on Base, its L2 variant.

In a comment from Lido Finance, the tone is clear:

Ethereum is the only choice for global financial institutions.

These initiatives, once scattered, converge. Programmable finance is no longer a slogan: it is being built on Ethereum, where algorithms, banks, and blockchains finally speak the same language.

Tokenization: the economic engine of the new Ethereum cycle

The term “tokenization” appears everywhere. But today, it no longer denotes a dream of crypto developers: it is the new market infrastructure. Kraken launched xStocks on Ethereum, stocks and ETFs transformed into ERC-20 tokens. Ondo Finance follows, with more than 100 tokenized American securities. And when BlackRock and Morgan Stanley file ETFs based on ETH staking, it seals the convergence between centralized finance and public blockchain.

For Fundstrat, this structural dynamic could raise Ethereum’s price between 7,000 and 9,000 USD in the long term. In this perspective, ETH is no longer just a crypto: it is the keystone of the future financial system.

Key takeaways 

• Current ETH price: $2,966;
• 35 major institutions launched products on Ethereum in 2025;
• UBS and JPMorgan now use blockchain for settlements;
• Google and Fidelity integrate the Ethereum ecosystem into their services;
• ETH-related ETFs become a strong trend for 2026.

The signals converge: banks, Big Tech, and crypto investors are preparing common ground. But one question remains: is Standard Chartered right to prophesy that 2026 will be “the Ethereum year“? If one observes the pace of institutional adoption, the answer seems already written on the blockchain itself.