SharpLink chief executive Joseph Chalom, who previously held a position at BlackRock and brings roughly twenty years of industry experience, has characterised Bitcoin as an asset people turn to when exiting traditional systems and Ethereum as the foundational infrastructure underpinning the future of finance. Remarks made on the podcast were covered by media outlets on 25 September 2026.
A Bitwise report published two days prior found that institutional investors tend to hold Bitcoin as a core asset while treating Ethereum and Solana as higher-risk positions they may offload if anticipated returns do not emerge. The two camps share common ground on Bitcoin's function as a value-preservation asset, yet hold divergent views on Ethereum's position.
On the "Wolf of All Streets" podcast, Chalom put forward the view that Ethereum could serve as the foundation for a restructured financial ecosystem incorporating stablecoins, tokenised funds, bonds, decentralised finance, and AI-driven financial agents. According to that projection, around $4 trillion in financial-services revenue streams face displacement within the coming ten years.
He cited roughly $15 trillion held by Americans in deposit accounts as evidence, noting that these funds generate little return and represent an estimated $180 billion annually in foregone earnings. Chalom proposed that AI-driven software tools could automatically redirect idle funds into higher-yield options, functioning much as credit card transactions flow across existing payment infrastructure.
Drawing a parallel to the SEC's 1975 abolition of fixed brokerage commissions, he described the forthcoming financial transformation as one that could take roughly three decades before trading costs approach zero. The company holds Ether as its principal reserve asset, structuring itself as an Ethereum treasury operation.
To gather its findings, Bitwise surveyed portfolio managers and investment decision-makers at 15 major institutional investors, spanning pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. The data showed that Bitcoin featured in the portfolio of every institution surveyed that held digital assets, typically as the first and largest allocation, and frequently paired with gold.
By contrast, such organisations tend to allocate smaller positions in Ethereum and Solana over shorter time horizons, treating these assets more as speculative opportunities than core holdings. Some institutional investors have indicated they may divest their Ethereum and Solana positions should token valuations fail to benefit from network expansion.
The firm noted that it would exit the space if its current approach proved unsuccessful, adding that it administers the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB). The findings track how those 15 institutions actually responded during a roughly 50% drop in cryptocurrency valuations between October 2025 and April 2026, revealing that every one of them held or expanded their positions throughout that period.
Bitwise draws on verifiable data about how institutional investors currently approach Ethereum, whereas Chalom's view centres on the asset's trajectory under conditions of wider market adoption. A number of institutional investors retain Ethereum under conditional terms, while their Bitcoin holdings carry no equivalent restrictions.
During the period from September 21 to 25, spot Bitcoin ETFs listed in the United States attracted approximately $2.4 billion in net inflows, a figure that outpaced the roughly $690 million recorded for Ethereum ETFs over the same timeframe. Throughout the week, Bitcoin recorded a decline in daily inflows, whereas Ethereum saw an initial drop before recovering on 25 September.
Over the past month, Ethereum posted a 6.9% advance, outpacing Bitcoin's 4.6% rise during the same period. Over the past twelve months, Ethereum recorded a steeper drop of 33.4%, while Bitcoin's losses reached 23.5%. Through 2026 so far, Ethereum has lost 9.5% of its value compared to a 4.1% decline recorded by Bitcoin over the same period.
There is broad agreement across opposing camps that Bitcoin functions as a reliable store of value. Substantial buy or sell orders, along with portfolio rebalancing at quarter-end, can shape the movement of money into and out of funds on any given day.
