TL;DR
- Institutional shift: Lubin foresees Wall Street running validators, L2s, and L3s, embedding Ethereum into core banking systems.
- Corporate reserves: Treasuries, ETFs, and asset managers now control nearly 5% of the ETH supply in 2025, worth billions.
- Long-term bullish: Despite seasonal weakness, Lubin projects ETH could surpass Bitcoin’s monetary base as adoption and staking demand grow.
Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin has ignited fresh bullish sentiment, declaring that ETH could “likely 100x” as Wall Street and corporate treasuries accelerate adoption. His remarks, posted on X in response to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, frame ETH as the backbone of a coming institutional shift toward decentralized finance infrastructure.
I am 100% aligned with almost all of what Tom @fundstrat says here.
Yes, Wall Street will stake because they currently pay for their infrastructure and Ethereum will replace much of the many siloed stacks they operate on (e.g. JPMorgam probably operates on several siloed stacks… https://t.co/bW93kkX1gW
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) August 30, 2025
Wall Street’s Ethereum Play
Lubin, who used to be a VP at Goldman Sachs, believes that big financial institutions will soon manage validators, run L2 and L3 networks, and use smart contracts to shift their main operations to ETH. JPMorgan has been using Ethereum-based technology for almost ten years, along with Goldman Sachs, Onyx, and other banks that are starting stablecoin and DeFi projects. This marks a deepening integration of Ethereum into traditional finance.
Corporate Treasuries Accumulate ETH
Since June 2025, treasury companies like Bitmine Immersion and Sharplink Gaming have increased their reserves by 2.6% of the total ETH in circulation. Along with the investments in newly approved Ethereum ETFs, institutional investors now possess almost 5% of the supply this year. Sharplink and Bitmine alone control over $6 billion in ETH, setting benchmarks for corporate adoption. Asset managers like BlackRock and VanEck have also committed billions, signaling a tipping point in ETH’s role as a primary digital asset for treasuries.
Decentralized Trust as a Competitive Edge
VanEck’s CEO has dubbed Ethereum “Wall Street’s token,” a sentiment Lubin reinforces by highlighting its “decentralized trust.” He argues that as legacy systems consolidate onto unified decentralized rails, staking ETH becomes both a technical necessity and an economic advantage. Lubin sees growth in L2 and L3 as a way to boost demand for the base layer, suggesting that Ethereum could exceed Bitcoin‘s monetary base.
Seasonal Headwinds, Long-Term Tailwinds
Despite strong fundamentals, September has historically been Ethereum’s weakest month, averaging a -6.42% return since 2016. Following a 76% year-to-date rally, including nearly 25% in August, seasonal trends and macro factors could prompt short-term pullbacks. Still, Lubin remains adamant that institutional inflows, rising staking yields near 3% APY, and ongoing upgrades point to sustained long-term growth, insisting that even Lee’s bullish stance is “not nearly bullish enough.”
