On September 21, the European Central Bank started Pontes, a service connecting blockchain-based markets with the Eurosystem’s payment infrastructure. Banks can now settle certain tokenized transactions with central-bank money rather than relying on private digital cash. Deutsche Bank and Santander joined the first group of participants.
The development says something important about where institutional finance has reached. Large organizations no longer debate blockchain only through trials. They are working out how digital assets can connect with the systems that already move securities and money. Ethereum enters that discussion with advantages in round-the-clock operation and programmable transactions. Yet competing with established infrastructure requires far more than processing a token transfer.
The Market Price Tells Only One Part of the Story
For an investor, Ether remains an asset before it becomes infrastructure. Binance quoted ETH at about $2,709 on September 27, with a market capitalization near $331 billion. An exchange matches purchase orders with offers from sellers, which produces the market rate you see on screen. If you’re checking the ETH price USD before choosing an investment available through Binance, you’re looking at demand for the token rather than a direct valuation of the payment network beneath it. Ether pays transaction fees and supports staking, so activity on that system can affect how investors assess the asset. The connection isn’t mechanical, however. A faster post-trade process doesn’t guarantee a higher quotation.
That distinction becomes clearer when you compare buying the dip with evaluating market infrastructure. A private investor might ask whether $2,700 offers an attractive entry point after a decline. A bank has another set of questions. It wants legal certainty around ownership and reliable access to cash for payment. Regulators also care about what happens when a participant fails. Those requirements explain why a blockchain can process transactions for years without replacing the institutions that stand behind securities markets.
Wall Street Has Already Cut Its Waiting Time
Conventional U.S. securities infrastructure has become faster itself. In May 2024, American equity and corporate-bond markets moved from T+2 to T+1. In simple terms, a stock sold on Monday now normally completes on Tuesday rather than Wednesday. The SEC argued that shortening the cycle reduces credit exposure and liquidity risk. Brokers also face tighter requirements for allocations and confirmations on the day a transaction takes place.
The volumes behind those systems deserve attention. Fedwire Funds Service originated transfers worth about $1.15 quadrillion during 2025. Average daily value reached roughly $4.59 trillion. A public blockchain does not need to reproduce Fedwire’s job to find a role in capital markets, but those numbers show the standard against which core payment infrastructure gets judged. Reliability under heavy demand carries more weight for a bank than an impressive demonstration under controlled conditions.
Programmability Gives Public Blockchains a Different Advantage
Ethereum approaches post-trade work from another direction. Smart contracts can execute instructions once specified conditions have been met. An asset and its payment can therefore interact within software rather than passing through separate records that later require reconciliation. Kose John, Barnabé Monnot, Peter Mueller, Fahad Saleh and Caspar Schwarz-Schilling examined the protocol’s transaction lifecycle in their 2025 paper Economics of Ethereum. They describe how validators propose transactions before other participants attest to them and establish finality under proof of stake.
The Bank for International Settlements sees similar potential in tokenized finance, although its preferred model places regulated money at the center. Its 2025 Annual Economic Report argues that tokenization can bring messaging and reconciliation into the same operation as asset transfer. That could reduce manual intervention. The BIS also stresses that central-bank money provides a stronger settlement asset than private tokens. Ethereum can supply programmable infrastructure, but institutions still need an acceptable form of cash on the other side of a securities transaction.
Banks Are Testing a Middle Route
That cash problem is starting to produce hybrid models. In November 2025, J.P. Morgan made its dollar deposit token available to institutional clients on an Ethereum Layer 2 network. The bank said clients could make near-instant transfers around the clock while retaining a claim linked to a commercial bank deposit. This approach keeps regulated bank money involved while using public blockchain technology to move it.
The model also shows why the contest probably won’t amount to old finance against Ethereum. Institutions can adopt parts of public-chain technology without abandoning regulated custody or bank deposits. They may also connect blockchain records to existing back-office systems rather than replace everything at once. That approach reduces the operational jump while preserving programmable transactions. For large firms, compatibility with established controls can decide whether an experiment becomes a production service.
Traditional Infrastructure Is Learning the Same Tricks
Established post-trade organizations have responded with their own tokenization projects. DTCC announced in July 2026 that it had converted securities held at its depository into digital tokens and processed them in production transactions. Its tokenization service is scheduled to launch in October. The project links blockchain-based trading with assets already held inside established U.S. market infrastructure, rather than asking participants to choose one system over the other.
This changes the competitive question. Ethereum offers public infrastructure with common technical standards and access beyond one institution. DTCC brings decades of legal arrangements and connections with brokers. It also works within a regulated framework built for securities ownership. A public network can compete on availability and programmability. Incumbent systems have an advantage where participants need recognized legal processes and central-bank cash.
