Ethereum’s lead in the $16.1T tokenization race could slip away if maxis don’t insist it’s the only acceptable source for truth for RWAs. For years, the default assumption in the Ethereum community has been that it will inevitably become the global settlement layer for finance. It didnt matter that retail was jumping ship for faster and cheaper chains like Solana and Aptos TradFi would recognize that Ethereum is the most battle-tested, credibly neutral and decentralized network, making it the only viable option for what Boston Consulting Group predicts will be a $16.1-trillion market by 2030. There are signs the prophecy is coming true. BlackRock, Fidelity, Wisdom Tree, Sony, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Coinbase are all making Ethereum the core of their onchain strategies. Last week, Ethereum-based platform Blocksquare announced a $1-billion deal with Vera Capital to tokenize US real estate, and Securitize and Ethena teamed up to launch the Converge L2 to tokenize billions more real-world assets (RWAs). Read more
Former ETH maxi, Infinex’s Kain Warwick, revealed he has sold 90% of his Ethereum — but he’s not giving up on it just yet. X Hall of Flame Infinex founder Kain Warwick has a few ideas on how hype could return to the fading asset that is Ethereum but says theres no one easy narrative to breathe life back into it. Theres no fucking certainty in ETH land right now, Warwick tells Hall of Flame, but that doesnt mean a comeback is off the table. If theres demand for ETH the asset, demand for block space on the L1, that will drive things, he says. Warwick, who admits he sold off 90% of his ETH bag since late 2020, thinks Ethereum could regain momentum if layer-2 networks finally start paying their fair share for using the base layers security. Charging L2s more, capturing more of the value that L2s are generating and increasing that kind of margin on blockspace would be really bullish for the L1, Warwick says. Read more