Sharplink CEO sees institutional flows reshaping Ethereum

Chalom said on social platform X that Ethereum’s TVL – currently around $68 billion – could surge as adoption broadens, with stablecoins, RWAs and other on-chain services helping attract more capital into the network’s DeFi ecosystem.

Sharplink is a major public Ethereum treasury company holding roughly 797,704 ETH, and Chalom’s forecast ties broader ecosystem trends to substantial increases in locked capital by 2026. He cited an expected expansion of the stablecoin market to about $500 billion next year, up from around $308 billion, with more than half of stablecoin activity already on Ethereum. The concentration of stablecoin use on Ethereum is one factor he believes could boost TVL.

In addition to stablecoins, Chalom predicts that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) could reach about $300 billion in 2026, growing from tokenizing individual funds and bonds to “full fund complexes.” Chalom said such growth in tokenized asset management could further increase capital flows into Ethereum’s DeFi protocols.

Chalom also pointed to increased interest from traditional financial firms – including JPMorgan, Franklin Templeton and BlackRock – as a catalyst for growing institutional engagement with Ethereum’s infrastructure. He expects sovereign wealth funds and other large allocators to expand their ETH holdings and participate more actively in tokenized markets.

Beyond stablecoins and RWAs, Chalom suggested that on-chain artificial intelligence agents and prediction markets may go mainstream, contributing to transaction activity and value locked on Ethereum protocols over the coming year.

Market data shows that while Ethereum’s price has been weaker – with Ether trading near about $2,900 and down over the past year – underlying growth in liquidity and institutional interest could support broader network adoption regardless of short-term price moves.

Total value locked is a metric used in decentralized finance to measure the aggregate value of crypto assets deposited in smart contracts and protocols. Higher TVL typically reflects stronger utility and usage of the network’s financial services. Ethereum has historically held a large share of global DeFi TVL due to its extensive ecosystem of lending, staking and trading protocols.