Federal Reserve Chairman frontrunner Waller: Ethereum and stablecoins are the next step in payment development, and institutions should adopt them

The next hot candidate for the Federal Reserve Chair, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, delivered an important speech expressing an optimistic attitude towards digital assets (especially Ethereum and stablecoins), stating that the GENIUS Act is making positive progress. The outside world believes this provides important policy support for the institutional adoption of digital assets such as stablecoins and Ethereum.

On Thursday local time, Federal Reserve Governor Waller spoke at the 2025 Wyoming Blockchain Symposium.

Waller praised Ethereum and stablecoins as the natural next step in the development of payment technology, stating that smart contracts, tokenization, and distributed ledgers do not pose risks in everyday use, urging financial institutions to accept cryptocurrencies as a natural progression in payment development.

Regarding regulation, Waller stated that the GENIUS Act is a "great start" and promised to gradually address existing issues as progress continues.

Waller's position advocating for Ethereum and stablecoins as foundational financial infrastructure resonates with key regulatory legislation passed in 2025. This statement has been interpreted by the market as a positive signal for the re-evaluation of cryptocurrencies.

The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to hold a 1:1 reserve of high-quality liquid assets, while the CLARITY Act clarifies the regulatory framework for digital commodities, eliminating regulatory uncertainty for institutional investors.

Regulatory Framework Boosts Institutional Confidence

The GENIUS Act will take effect in July 2025, establishing the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States.

The Act requires stablecoin issuers to hold high-quality liquid assets such as U.S. Treasury securities and cash as a 1:1 reserve and clarifies the supervisory responsibilities of banking regulators such as the OCC and FDIC.

To complement the GENIUS Act, the House passed the CLARITY Act in July 2025, further clarifying the jurisdictional boundaries of the SEC and CFTC.

This Act classifies non-stablecoin assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as "digital commodities" regulated by the CFTC, eliminating regulatory ambiguity for asset management firms and institutional investors.

This dual legislative framework creates a favorable environment for institutional adoption, driving rapid growth in Ethereum-based tokenized assets and ETFs.

Regulatory clarity directly promotes institutional investment in Ethereum and stablecoins.

As of the third quarter of 2025, the asset management scale of Ethereum ETFs reached $27.6 billion, with inflows exceeding those of Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's ETHA ETF attracted $10 billion in assets under management within ten days of its launch.

Corporate funds are also being reallocated to the Ethereum space, with over 64 companies investing $10.1 billion in staking and tokenizing real-world assets.

Platforms like BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's Progmat are leveraging Ethereum's infrastructure to provide decentralized ownership of assets, combining traditional finance with blockchain programmability.

Ethereum's technological upgrades further enhance its appeal to institutional investors. After Ethereum completed the Pectra and Dencun upgrades, Ethereum's gas fees (transaction fees) decreased by 90%. The decrease in transaction fees has directly reduced the cost of running decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum, attracting more institutional funds. The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has reached $223 billion, with substantial funds being invested in lending, staking, liquidity pools, and other decentralized financial products.

Ethereum's dominant position in the stablecoin ecosystem has become even more solidified, with stablecoins issued and circulated on Ethereum accounting for 50% of the global market share