Ethereum could see significant growth in total value locked (TVL) in its ecosystem by 2026. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink, expects TVL to increase tenfold thanks to wider adoption of the network across multiple use cases — from stablecoins to institutional investors.
Sharplink bets on Ethereum
Sharplink Gaming is one of the largest public holders of Ethereum and, according to Ethereum Treasuries data, holds 797,704 ETH worth approximately $2.33 billion. Chalom bases his optimistic scenario on the assumption that Ethereum will continue to move away from a purely technological ecosystem towards infrastructure that will also be used more by large capital managers.
One of the main drivers of growth is expected to be stablecoins. Chalom estimates that their market capitalization will grow to $500 billion by the end of next year from the current approximately $308 billion, which would represent approximately 62% growth. More than half of stablecoin activity (54%) already takes place on Ethereum, so the growth in volume could also bring more capital to DeFi, thereby pushing TVL significantly higher.
RWA tokenization could boost Ethereum
Another driver of growth is expected to be the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Chalom estimates that this market could reach $300 billion by 2026 and expand from individual funds and bonds to broader investment structures. According to him, the interest of players such as JPMorgan, Franklin Templeton, and BlackRock shows that tokenization is becoming a serious tool for traditional finance. Ethereum’s current TVL is around $68.6 billion.
Despite optimistic forecasts, the price of ETH remains cautious for now. Some analysts, such as Benjamin Cowen, point out that given the current situation with Bitcoin, Ethereum may not reach new highs next year. ETH is currently trading around $2,924, roughly 3% lower than 30 days ago, and has fallen 12.36% over the past 12 months. At the same time, Chalom expects that growth could be supported by sovereign wealth funds and new use cases, such as on-chain AI agents and prediction markets.
