Last week, in the grand ballroom of Cipriani restaurant on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, cryptocurrency supporters gathered beneath marble columns and chandeliers to herald the arrival of a new financial era — one that extends far beyond Bitcoin.

Just days earlier, Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, had surged approximately 75% since June, approaching its all-time high. Now, within this former Bowery Savings Bank building, digital asset industry executives assembled in what appeared to be both a victory celebration and a sales pitch. Their goal: convince the financial world that Ethereum is not merely another speculative token, but the cornerstone of the future monetary system — and corporate treasuries that lock it away could accelerate this vision.

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc., took the stage. His company remains relatively unknown on Wall Street, but now holds over $6 billion worth of Ethereum. The company has made a simple bet: not just holding Ethereum, but building an enterprise around it. Tom Lee's far-reaching vision, articulated to retail followers in countless online videos, carries significant influence.

"Ethereum will be where Wall Street meets artificial intelligence," he declared.

For a network still primarily engaged in token trading among cryptocurrency users, this represents a bold assertion. But in Lee's view, the underlying logic is clear: unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum is more than just currency. It's a programmable ledger where software programs called "smart contracts" can run automatically, processing transactions, paying interest, or managing loans without banks as intermediaries.

People use it to exchange cryptocurrencies, transfer stablecoins, or obtain crypto-collateralized loans — each operation requiring payment of fees in Ethereum. The more businesses and projects depend on its infrastructure, the greater the demand for this token. If corporate treasuries quietly accumulating Ethereum are correct in their judgment, they could not only profit from its price appreciation but also gain a head start before the future financial system's architecture is fully established.

Although Ethereum remains the busiest blockchain by on-chain value, it faces two major headwinds: competition from faster, cheaper rivals like Solana, which hit record highs this year, and a persistent lack of new, committed buyers. Lee and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin believe corporate treasury programs represent a structural solution to the demand problem, providing stronger market floor support by locking up supply.

"There's still a lot of Ethereum out there," Lubin told Bloomberg in July. "It's kind of like a race now. Because if we lock up a lot of Ethereum, and many other projects lock up a lot of Ethereum, that's really good for supply and demand dynamics."

This vision faces another form of resistance: financial giants are building private versions of the same "blockchain infrastructure." Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group Inc. is creating a network under its control — reducing fees, keeping customers within its internal system, and bypassing the shared infrastructure model Ethereum advocates. If this proprietary trend continues, Ethereum could be excluded from the very systems it hopes to power. Stripe is reportedly pursuing similar initiatives.

The corporate treasury strategy directly borrows from Bitcoin's most famous advocate, Michael Saylor. Saylor transformed MicroStrategy into something resembling a Bitcoin ETF in 2020, accumulating $72 billion worth of Bitcoin over time. BitMine's scale is smaller — representing only 1% of Ethereum's circulating supply — but the ambition is identical: lock up so much of the asset that scarcity itself becomes a moat. Lee suggests that if Wall Street makes a major push into Ethereum projects, the token's value could skyrocket from its current approximately $4,300 to $60,000. However, whether Ethereum can replicate Bitcoin's corporate treasury success remains uncertain, as Saylor's moves coincided with a historic cryptocurrency bull market.

"MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor has proven over four years that holding the underlying asset is great, but through an Ethereum treasury strategy — through a liquid public company — you can achieve multiples of the underlying asset's value, benefiting shareholders," said Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of SharpLink Gaming. A former BlackRock executive who helped launch the ETHA-coded Ethereum ETF during his tenure at the world's largest asset management company, Chalom's SharpLink has accumulated over $3 billion worth of Ethereum.

Supporters argue that mathematical principles favor Ethereum. Ethereum has lower issuance, and since a portion of each transaction fee is permanently destroyed, its supply could even decrease over time. Long-term corporate treasury holdings could exacerbate this scarcity. Skeptics point to risks at the cycle's other end: corporate holders can sell as quickly as they buy, potentially amplifying market downturns.

"People in crypto love treasury companies because they think treasury companies will only buy and hold," said Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. "But there's no free lunch. What most people misunderstand is that situations could arise in the future, especially during crypto bear markets, where treasury companies might start selling."

Ethereum's major advantage over Bitcoin is staking — locking up Ethereum to help run the network in exchange for yields. This is marketed as a way to transform Ethereum into a yield-bearing asset — more like dividend-paying stocks than static commodities. However, most mainstream exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors currently cannot directly access this yield.

According to a July regulatory filing, BlackRock is working with other issuers to add staking functionality to ETHA, potentially opening doors for retail traders to capture both price gains and staking rewards in the same product. The fund has accumulated approximately $16 billion in assets in just over a year.

Despite frequent activity on Ethereum, most people still don't use it for everyday monetary transactions — transfers, shopping, or savings. Many Wall Street tokenization projects remain in testing phases. Lee indicates this transformation is already underway, pointing to AI companies, payment companies, and major financial institutions beginning to develop directly on Ethereum.

"I see many storylines converging to make Ethereum the biggest macro trade of the next 10 to 15 years," he said.

Ethereum's believer community now extends from bank research departments to political activists. World Liberty Financial Inc., a decentralized finance enterprise linked to Donald Trump's circle, disclosed purchasing millions of dollars worth of Ethereum this year. Eric Trump, co-founder of Trump Organization, publicly cheered Ethereum's rise. Standard Chartered Bank has now raised its year-end target from $4,000 to $7,500. ARK Investment Management has also increased its long-term forecast.

The price increases are real. Corporate holdings are real. The conviction is genuine. But the test isn't whether Ethereum can rise, but whether it can maintain its footing, whether these companies can survive the next crash, and whether this token can be more than just a bet.

"Financial institutions view Ethereum as a natural choice," said Tomasz Stanczak, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. "They understand what products need to be built, what can be improved, and where efficiency gains can be achieved."