Ethereum's new nonprofit wants to be the institutional front door — the old ones are too busy reorging 🚪

Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, treasury firms BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink, and other contributors unveiled a new independent nonprofit on Wednesday called Ethereum Institutional, aimed at coordinating the blockchain's outreach to banks, asset managers and other financial institutions. In an X.com post announcing the launch, the organization said the ecosystem has lacked "a credible, independent front door" for engaging financial institutions, arguing such a role is needed to accelerate institutional adoption.

The nonprofit plans to expand beyond New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore into additional financial hubs and will offer education, standards development, industry research and institutional events. The launch comes as Ethereum continues to dominate key onchain segments. According to Token Terminal, Ethereum hosts nearly 58% of the tokenized real-world asset market, and DeFiLlama data shows the network accounts for roughly half of the $311 billion stablecoin market.

Despite that footprint, Ether prices have come under pressure, weighing on the balance sheets of companies holding large ETH treasuries. BitMine and SharpLink are both sitting on sizable unrealized losses after the cryptocurrency recently falling to a low near $1,500. $ETH was trading at more than $1,620 at last look on Wednesday with a market cap of $195.4 billion, according to Coingecko data, compared with a price above $4,000 as recently as Oct. 27. According to 21shares, current asset prices have yet to reflect growing demand from portfolio managers, asset managers and financial institutions.

The institutional push comes as the Ethereum Foundation undergoes a broad organizational overhaul. The nonprofit, which supports Ethereum's core protocol development and ecosystem growth, has spent the past year navigating leadership changes, internal debates over governance and development priorities, intensifying competition from rival blockchains and criticism over Ether's market performance. Last month, co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down, one of roughly 19 reported departures from the foundation this year, followed by a restructuring that included laying off 20% of the foundation's staff.