Wall Street's private blockchain obsession is a 'race to the bottom,' Ethereum advocate Raman warns

The article argues that Wall Street’s renewed interest in private, permissioned blockchains could undermine the core value proposition of blockchain: interoperability, transparency, and shared liquidity. Ethereum advocate Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, says “consortium chains” risk recreating siloed systems, while Ethereum’s open mainnet can serve as a neutral base layer with permissioning and privacy added on top. The piece highlights growing institutional experimentation from firms such as Digital Asset, Circle, and Stripe, but contrasts that with major Ethereum-based initiatives from BlackRock, which Raman views as evidence that institutions may ultimately prefer open rails once regulatory clarity improves. Market-wise, the article is broadly constructive for ETH because it reinforces Ethereum’s role as the preferred institutional settlement layer, though it also notes that enterprise adoption could still skew toward curated private networks. The tone is therefore supportive of Ethereum’s long-term thesis, but mixed on how institutional capital will actually flow.