What if Ethereum is closer to replacing Wall Street infrastructure than anyone realizes?
In this episode of High Stakes, host Alex Nwaka sits down with Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, to explore the deep structural gaps in traditional finance and why Ethereum is poised to fill them. With a decade of experience trading credit on Wall Street, Vivek brings unmatched clarity on blockchain’s institutional adoption curve, from skepticism to inevitability. Whether you’re a portfolio manager, policy maker, or protocol builder, this episode breaks down the why, how, and when of Ethereum’s shift into institutional finance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Ethereum is transitioning from retail hype to institutional infrastructure
• Vivek’s Wall Street background revealed outdated settlement rails and reconciliation pain points
• ETH is a productive, yield-generating asset, Ethereum is “digital oil”
• Ethereum Layer 2s let institutions build custom blockchains that plug into global liquidity
• Stablecoins are the “ChatGPT moment” for crypto and tokenization
• Privacy is essential for institutional adoption, Ethereum needs future-facing primitives
• The value of decentralization is clearest to Wall Street, not retail
• Ethereum’s core strength is being globally accessible but owned by no one
• Tokenized dollars, credit, treasuries, stocks, and commodities are all accelerating on-chain
• AI agents will need Ethereum to transact and coordinate autonomously
BEST MOMENTS

00:01:34. “I approach the space from a Wall Street and traditional finance background.”
00:02:30. “Despite trillions of dollars, the technology backing Wall Street hadn't been upgraded since the '80s or '90s.”
00:04:02. “The way to digitize the financial system is to use what the Ethereum blockchain allows.”
00:05:34. “That was the birth of Etherealize, almost exactly a year ago.”
00:07:46. “The whole financial system can be upgraded if we adopt Ethereum technology.”
00:11:01. “They keep Excel spreadsheets on local computers of their positions and their risk.”
00:16:05. “We've checked all the boxes. Now it's time to accelerate and bring the whole world on.”
00:19:44. “Ethereum is actually a much better store of value than oil.”
00:28:52. “Stablecoins are the canary in the coal mine for all of tokenization.”
00:36:33. “The world where AI and public blockchains intersect is going to be a really cool one.”
00:41:01. “We’re going to see Ethereum flip Bitcoin in the next 1 or 2 years.”

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