How Wall Street Is Using Ethereum as Financial Infrastructure
By 2025, Ethereum shifted from being seen mainly as a platform for digital assets to serving as core financial infrastructure for major institutions. Wall Street now uses Ethereum as a foundational settlement layer, processing over $5 trillion in quarterly transactions, comparable to traditional payment networks. Institutions leverage Ethereum’s smart contracts for instant (T+0) settlements, automating processes previously managed by middle-office staff and reducing costs, errors, and manual reconciliation. The adoption of stablecoins and asset tokenization has accelerated this trend; stablecoins on Ethereum are used for real-time, global settlement by giants like Visa and Mastercard, following clear regulatory frameworks such as the 2025 GENIUS Act. Banks and asset managers are launching tokenized funds and real-world assets on Ethereum, increasing liquidity and operational efficiency with smart contracts. Despite this widespread adoption, financial institutions often avoid explicitly mentioning Ethereum, instead using terms like “onchain liquidity” or “distributed ledger.” Ethereum is valued for its neutrality, interoperability, and status as the emerging operating system for global finance, underpinning major products without proprietary restrictions.
