Ethereum Solidifies Global Infrastructure Role in 2025 Amidst Protocol Upgrades, Regulatory Clarity, and Institutional Adoption

Ethereum became core global infrastructure in 2025, moving beyond its “experimental” phase, according to a December 23 year-end review by Ethereum Foundation member renaissancing. The network completed two major upgrades—Pectra in May, advancing account abstraction, and Fusaka in December, delivering 8x scaling via PeerDAS. Regulatory clarity improved as the U.S. SEC issued staking guidance, affirmed Ethereum is not a security, passed the GENIUS Act, and lifted Tornado Cash sanctions. Institutional adoption accelerated, with JPMorgan launching the MONY tokenized fund and spot ETH ETFs reaching $28.6 billion in AUM. Stablecoin supply topped $300 billion, with Ethereum holding a 54% share, while Layer 2 TVL rose to $35.7 billion, reinforcing Ethereum’s role as a settlement layer for finance and AI.