The Ethereum Foundation has launched a new marketing firm called Etherealize. This firm aims to bridge the educational gap about blockchain technology for institutions.
Anthony Sassano, an educator in the Ethereum space, noted that the timing of Etherealize’s launch is excellent. It happened on January 22, just as the Trump administration has shown a pro-crypto stance.
Etherealize focuses on educating institutions about the blockchain and its token, Ether (ETH). Sassano shared on X that having a dedicated marketing team for Ethereum on Wall Street is a significant step forward. It's backed by influential figures in the Ethereum community, including Vitalik Buterin.
ETH has faced challenges in breaking past its peak of over $4,800 from late 2021. However, the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for ETH in the U.S. this past July has sparked some optimism. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) has reached new heights in 2024 and 2025, driven by strong inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs and the positive outlook surrounding Trump’s pro-crypto promises.
Grant Hummer, co-founder of Etherealize and former managing director at Chromatic Capital, pointed out a need for better institutional education following the U.S. spot ETF launches. He said, “Etherealize is here to fix that and bring all of Wall Street—and ultimately the world—onto Ethereum rails.”
Etherealize, co-founded by finance veterans Vivek Raman and James Fickel, is rolling out a suite of products. These products will help institutions tokenize real-world assets on Ethereum. This approach mirrors what major firms like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Guggenheim are already doing.
Raman explained that while stablecoins have found their place quickly, there’s room for more tokenization in areas like treasury markets, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, commodities, and real estate. He stated, “Institutions are profit-maximizing entities. Using public blockchains to tokenize assets will reduce their costs and make operations more efficient.”
This development comes as BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve tokenization for bonds and stocks quickly. BlackRock has already launched a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, which has raised over $394 million. This makes it the third-largest tokenized treasury asset, according to Dune Analytics data from 21Shares.
BlackRock is not solely focused on Ethereum, though. They’ve expanded the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund to include platforms like Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon.
The Ethereum Foundation also announced plans to allocate 50,000 Ether, valued at around $164 million, to support Ethereum’s decentralized finance ecosystem. Just days before, Buterin revealed that the nonprofit would undergo organizational changes to better support developers and enhance transparency within the community.