Ether’s price-fundamental gap could signal a 2026 opportunity.
Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, argues that ETH's price masks are reinforcing fundamentals that could shape how it is valued in 2026.
Ether's price performance has disappointed many investors over the last cycle. While other assets have gained attention with rapid rallies, ETH has struggled to keep pace, raising questions about whether Ether is losing importance or simply being misunderstood.
In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Ethereum CEO Vivek Raman offered a very different perspective. Instead of focusing on short-term price action, Raman pointed to a growing divergence between market sentiment and Ether's (ETH) fundamentals, which in 2018 He said he could determine his chances in 2026.
Raman continues to dominate Ethereum in areas that matter most to institutions. Today, the Ethereum network and Layer-2 chains handle the majority of stablecoin activity in a market worth more than $300 billion worldwide. Ethereum is the main network for real-world assets, data shows that it accounts for more than 90% of all tokenized assets onchain.
The interview also explored how traditional finance is moving from experimentation to real-world deployment. Major institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Fidelity have launched tokenized investment products using the Ethereum infrastructure, a move that seemed impossible a few years ago. Raman argues that this shift has recently been made possible by greater regulatory transparency, particularly in the United States.
Rather than offering simple price predictions, Raman laid out a forward-looking framework that links stablecoin development, tokenization, and Ethereum's role as an independent financial infrastructure. Early on, these structural trends may ultimately cause the market to reevaluate how ETH is valued.
The discussion prompts viewers to look beyond recent price volatility and consider that Ethereum's recent underperformance may be masking a much larger long-term opportunity.
To hear Raman's perspective on 2026, watch the full interview on Cointelegraph's YouTube channel.
Related: Bulletproof Ethereum Is Gaining Value With User Metrics
This interview has been edited and expanded for clarity.
