Ethereum Is ‘The Infrastructure' for Wall Street, Says Former BlackRock Executive
Summary
Ethereum's Institutional Pitch: Why Chalom Sees 'Infrastructure'
Joseph Chalom — formerly of BlackRock — framed Ethereum not merely as a protocol but as the infrastructure financial institutions will increasingly rely on. At a time when Ether sits around $3,421.91, his view underscores more than price: it emphasizes Ethereum's developer network, mature token standards (ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-404 and more), and the platform's proven ability to host complex smart contracts. For Chalom, these features make Ethereum a natural base layer for tokenized securities, automated settlement and programmable liquidity across the broader blockchain ecosystem.
The technical and commercial case for Ethereum
Institutional adoption depends on more than hype — it demands reliability, composability and clear upgrade paths. Ethereum already offers a vast library of smart contract building blocks, active developer tooling, and a broad market for custody and compliance services. That stack supports everything from tokenized bonds and equities to standardized DeFi primitives. Chalom highlighted how composability allows new financial products to be assembled quickly, and why custodians and prime brokers are increasingly integrating ETH-native services. This trend dovetails with the growth of DeFi primitives that institutional desks are monitoring for yield and hedging strategies.
What institutional adoption would look like in practice
If Wall Street builds on Ethereum, expect three immediate shifts: first, a proliferation of tokenized assets running on-chain; second, tighter integration between custody solutions and on-chain settlement rails; third, expanded regulatory engagement to create custody, reporting and audit frameworks that institutions require. Tokenization could reduce settlement times, cut counterparty risk and enable fractional ownership models that broaden liquidity — affecting markets from real estate to art, where NFTs and fractionalized collectibles already hint at new demand. At the same time, memecoins and speculative tokens will continue to coexist with high-grade institutional products, forcing firms to differentiate risk and compliance layers.
Risks, standards and the path ahead
The institutional transition won't be frictionless. Key obstacles include regulatory certainty, interoperability across chains, and robust custody tailored to institutional governance. Standards bodies and market infrastructure providers will need to address on-chain reconciliation, auditability and legal enforceability of smart contract actions. Moreover, performance and cost predictability remain concerns for high-volume settlement use cases, even as Layer 2 solutions and rollups aim to alleviate throughput and fee issues. Still, Chalom's thesis rests on a practical observation: Ethereum already hosts the developer and service ecosystem necessary for institutional products — it just needs mature standards and clear regulatory guardrails.
Bottom line
Joseph Chalom's characterization of Ethereum as Wall Street's prospective infrastructure is a vote of confidence for ETH's role in the evolving financial stack. Whether firms fully migrate will depend on regulatory clarity, custody innovations, and interoperable tooling. In the meantime, platforms across the space — from retail apps to institutional gateways like Bitlet.app — will continue building bridges between traditional finance and on-chain markets, shaping how tokenized products and DeFi integrate with legacy systems.
Key takeaway: Ethereum's technical depth and market ecosystem position it as a plausible infrastructure layer for institutional finance, but adoption hinges on standards, custody and regulation.