Why TradFi is betting on a Bitcoin Surge

Takeaways from the conference:

• The institutional adoption of Ethereum is increasing despite the disappointing Ether price. Ethereum, and its layers-2s, hold 65% market share of TVL.

• Vitalik Buterin focuses on base-layer scalability, ZK-EVM and long-term efficiency and security of the blockchain.

EtherETH( ) is down 36% by 2026. This has led to frustration, as $3,000 feels more and more out of reach. Ethereum appears resilient, despite its retreat towards $1,900. As development moves at an extremely rapid pace, it is focused on scalability of the base layer, privacy, as well as quantum resistance. 

If the sentiment in the market shifts to cryptocurrencies, critics who claim Ether has a poor position may be shocked.

Ether underperformed the wider crypto market in the first two month of 2026 by 9%, which challenges the idea that external forces are solely responsible for this correction. The Ethereum DEX volumes fell by 55% during the past 6 months. Meanwhile, Solana’s volume dropped only 21%.

Ethereum DEX volumes fell to $56.5 billion by February 2026. They were down from an August 2025 peak of $128.5 Billion. In the same time period, Solana monthly volumes dropped from $120.6 Billion in August to $95.5 Billion. The contraction of activity impacted network fees as well as revenue from decentralized applications (DApps), thereby reducing immediate motivation for Ether holders.

Ethereum chosen by Institutions over Blockchains

While the focus is on volume, it’s important to note that Ethereum has a market share of 57% in terms of total value locked. This totals $52.4 billion. Ethereum dominates 65% of the market when layer-2 solutions like Base, Arbitrum Polygon and Optimism are included. To compare, Solana’s TVL has a market cap of $6.4 billion while BNB Chain is home to $5.5 billion in contracts.

Recent onchain initiatives using Ethereum have been launched by major institutions including JP Morgan Asset Management and Citi. Ethereum, with its tokenized funds, dedicated layer-2 rollsups and stablecoins issued by banks, remains the main venue for Decentralized Finance (DeFi). It commands a 68% share in Real World Assets.

Ethereum’s strategy to prioritize layer-2 scaling via rollups was partially deemed a fail, since competing chains Tron and Solana lead the way in network fees. No matter how the critics view the decision to subsidise rollup costs. “Ethereum killer” Has managed to match the monetary value. TVL is still $1.5B for the hyperliquid.

Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of Ethereum and its lead architect. He recently stated his intention to reduce reliance on rollups through targeting base layer scalability. Buterin claims that the changes proposed include parallel block validation, aligning the gas cost with the actual execution time and the implementation a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine

The updates will be introduced gradually. Buterin advises that only a minority of the network should participate at first before moving to mandatory block-confirmation systems, which rely on ZKEVM. Ethereum has a clearly defined roadmap that includes consensus-layer signs based upon privacy-focused systems.

Related: Why institutions still prefer Ethereum despite faster blockchains

Buterin admits that quantum-resistant signatures Lattice solutions, which are inefficient at the moment, are a significant improvement. The proposed solution consists of fixing the protocol layer recursive sign-up and proof aggregate, while also developing vectorized precompiles for math to reduce gas cost. The Ethereum network may not be perfect yet, but there is a path to scalability.

It is important to understand what makes ETH so successful compared to other blockchains that are geared towards DApps. It takes years or even decades to build trust and decentralization. ETH has a first mover advantage, and is well positioned to take on a surge of demand in the future for high-quality institutional activity.