Ethereum is splitting into three power centers and ETH treasury firms are paying for two
Ethereum’s institutional push is splitting into two outside groups. Ethereum Institutional launched July 1 to sell Ethereum to banks and asset managers through relationships, forums, and pitch decks. Ethlabs, started days earlier by former Ethereum Foundation researchers, focuses on faster settlement, infrastructure readiness, and the ETH investment case. Both are funded by Bitmine, Sharplink, and Joe Lubin. The split comes amid major Ethereum Foundation turnover and a narrower mandate that emphasizes neutrality, open source, privacy, and security rather than commercialization. This leaves advocacy and sales to outside entities. The funding alignment is notable because Bitmine and Sharplink hold about 6.59 million ETH, roughly 5.5% of supply, so they benefit if institutional adoption and ETH demand rise. Ethereum’s bull case rests on existing scale in stablecoins, DeFi, and tokenized assets, plus upcoming upgrades that expand layer-2 and base-layer capacity. The bear case is weak ETH price, thin ETF demand, and funding pressure if treasury-stock discounts persist.
