Etherealize Raises $40M to Bring Ethereum to Wall Street




Etherealize Raises $40M to Bring Ethereum to Wall Street

Key Takeaways

• Etherealize raised $40M in a round led by Electric Capital and Paradigm. 
• The startup is building Ethereum-based products for Wall Street institutions. 
• It aims to tokenise traditional assets like mortgages and bonds to modernise finance.

The crypto market is heating up again. But this time, it’s not just retail traders chasing memecoins. Big institutions are stepping in.

Etherealize, a startup launched in early 2025, wants to make sure Wall Street doesn’t miss the moment. The firm has raised $40 million to build products and infrastructure for banks and asset managers on Ethereum.

The funding round was led by Electric Capital and Paradigm, two of the most prominent crypto venture firms. The round also follows an earlier grant from Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s cofounder, and the Ethereum Foundation.

A Push for Institutional Ethereum

Etherealize’s goal is simple but ambitious. It wants to help Wall Street embrace Ethereum for real financial use cases. 

The company’s cofounder and CEO, Vivek Raman, believes the time is right. “Now’s the time to really mobilize,” he said. “We have the best window of adoption I’ve ever seen.”

That confidence comes from both market momentum and a more favorable regulatory climate. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has taken a pro-crypto stance. Banks are now openly exploring stablecoins, while asset managers are experimenting with tokenised funds.

For Raman, this is the movement.

From Wall Street to Ethereum

Raman is a veteran of traditional finance with experience at Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Deutsche Bank. That background gives him a unique perspective. He knows how slow and outdated many Wall Street systems are.

“There aren’t institutional builders that are willing to walk through all the pain points,” he said. “I want to do that. I think it’s fun.”

In August 2024, Raman received a grant from Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation to research Wall Street’s appetite for Ethereum.

He spent months talking to executives across major banks and investment firms with a clear message that the market was ready. By early 2025, he launched Etherealize with a small team of cofounders and Ethereum veterans.

The Team Behind the Vision

Etherealize is not a solo effort. Alongside Raman, the team includes:

• Danny Ryan, a longtime Ethereum developer and researcher. 
• Grant Hummer, a finance veteran and Ethereum advocate. 
• Zach Obront, an Ethereum security engineer.

Together, they’ve built a 14-person team focused on institutional-grade Ethereum products. Their mission is to onboard as many Wall Street players as possible before the regulatory climate shifts again.

As Ryan put it, “The regulatory pendulum can only swing so far.” In other words, they know today’s favorable rules may not last forever.

Fixing “Stone Age” Finance

So what exactly is Etherealize building? The company hasn’t revealed specific products yet. However, Raman has made the vision clear to tokenise traditional assets and bring them onto Ethereum.

That could mean wrapping mortgages, bonds, and credit products in blockchain form. Right now, much of Wall Street still runs on outdated infrastructure.

“They trade over the phone, settle using fax machines, and use wire transfers,” Raman explained.

By putting assets on Ethereum, settlement can become faster, cheaper, and more transparent. For the broader financial system, it means more efficiency.

Why Wall Street Cares About Ethereum

Tokenization is becoming one of the most talked-about trends in finance. BlackRock, JPMorgan, and other giants have already launched tokenized funds and experiments.

Ethereum, with its established developer community and robust infrastructure, is the leading platform for this shift. 

Etherealize wants to give institutions the tools to take tokenisation mainstream. Instead of pilot projects, the firm envisions large-scale adoption where mortgages, credit products, and other fixed-income assets are traded and settled on Ethereum every day.

Backing From Big Names

The $40M raise underscores the faith investors have in Etherealize. Electric Capital and Paradigm are known for spotting crypto winners early so Etherealize’s next challenge will be execution.

The startup has just 14 employees but plans to scale quickly with the new funding. The priority will be creating tools that solve real problems for banks and asset managers.

That means focusing on compliance, security, and integration with existing finance systems. Raman and his team know that tokenization can’t just be a buzzword. It has to prove itself with real efficiency gains for Wall Street.

Final Thoughts

Etherealize’s $40M raise is more than just another startup funding story. It shows that Wall Street’s interest in Ethereum is real and growing.

With support from top investors and Ethereum’s own founders, the company is well-positioned to bring tokenisation to mainstream finance.

As Raman put it, the window of opportunity is open now. If Etherealize can deliver, it could mark the beginning of a new era where traditional finance finally joins the blockchain age.

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