Bitcoin Was Easy to Sell, But Ethereum Took Years to Convince Institutions: Here’s Why

Ethereum stumbled out of the gates relative to Bitcoin early in this cycle, but recent trends show a decisive reversal. SharpLink Gaming co-CEO Joseph Chalom pointed to one key factor –

“Ethereum took longer to explain because it wasn’t Bitcoin.”

Ethereum’s Slow Burn

In a recent conversation with Bankless, Chalom said that with Bitcoin, institutions were introduced to a simple narrative – digital gold. It was a scarce asset with a decade-long track record, largely uncorrelated with equities and fixed income, and capable of delivering asymmetric upside. That clarity allowed wealth managers, pension funds, and advisors to understand where Bitcoin fits within a portfolio.

Ethereum, on the other hand, required a deeper conversation. It wasn’t Bitcoin, and so its story couldn’t rest on the “digital gold” comparison. Instead, explaining Ethereum meant educating institutions on a broader vision: the digitization of ownership and the decentralization of finance.

Chalom, who left asset manager BlackRock to lead SharpLink, said that investing in ETH is similar to investing in the early days of the internet. Web 1 built foundational networks, Web 2 enabled commerce and interaction, and now Ethereum represents the infrastructure for a Web 3 world where real-world assets, DeFi, and stablecoins converge. That narrative resonates, but it is far more complex, the exec added.

“Just like you saw Web 1, a decade-long trend, and then Web 2, in a more commerce and interactive way, you can think of this being the decentralization of finance. And if this is a token that is going to help benefit and secure that, it’s been not harder for people to understand that it doesn’t take convincing, but it does takes a heck of a lot more education.”

Driving the Future of Finance, Not Just Accumulation

Ethereum can act as a store of value and has even entered deflationary phases, yet Chalom said that its true role is tied to powering this next-generation financial system. The SharpLink exec stressed that for ETH treasury companies, the responsibility is not just accumulating ETH but also educating investors about its place in this long-term transformation.

Over time, as understanding grows, so will adoption – and when we look back a decade from now, Chalom argued, Ethereum’s price will have followed the reality of its expanding role.

With $3.6 billion in Ethereum, Sharplink Gaming is the world’s second-largest public ETH holder, trailing only BitMine Immersion Technologies at a little over $8 billion.