Ethereum as Wall Street Base; PEPENODE Gains Traction
Former BlackRock executive Joseph Chalom framed Ethereum as Wall Street’s core infrastructure, emphasizing its liquidity, security and compliance in a CoinDesk interview. Chalom’s endorsement and the staking of billions of dollars’ worth of Ether reinforce Ethereum’s role as a trusted settlement layer for institutional capital. Traders may rotate into ETH-aligned narratives and applications, boosting on-chain engagement.
One beneficiary is PEPENODE, a gamified “mine-to-earn” project built on Ethereum. Users purchase and combine virtual nodes to optimize yields, track performance via a dashboard and sell nodes for profit. Post-TGE, PEPENODE will launch staking, node utility and a leaderboard to drive retention. The presale has raised over $2.12 million, with tokens priced at $0.0011454 and staking APY at 609%. Analysts project PEPENODE reaching $0.0072 by end-2026, a 528.6% gain. With two days before the next price increase, the presale’s momentum underscores both Ethereum’s institutional narrative and growing demand for on-chain gamification.
Bullish
Institutional backing—from a former BlackRock executive—shifts the Ethereum narrative from speculative to foundational, attracting both large-scale and retail investors. Historical parallels include Grayscale’s ETH products and ETF approvals, which sparked significant price rallies. Ethereum-themed projects often benefit from such endorsements; PEPENODE’s presale success and gamified model signal strong demand for on-chain utility tokens. In the short term, ETH and PEPENODE may see upward price pressure as traders chase yield and novelty. Long term, reinforced trust in Ethereum’s liquidity and security underpins sustained capital inflows, supporting a bullish outlook despite broader market volatility.