Leading Federal Reserve Chair candidate and Fed Governor Waller delivered significant remarks expressing optimism about digital assets, particularly Ethereum and stablecoins, while noting positive progress on the GENIUS Act. Market observers view this as crucial policy support for institutional adoption of stablecoins and Ethereum.

On Thursday, Fed Governor Waller spoke at the 2025 Wyoming Blockchain Symposium.

Waller praised Ethereum and stablecoins as the natural next step in payment technology development, stating that smart contracts, tokenization, and distributed ledgers pose no risks in everyday use, and urged financial institutions to embrace cryptocurrency as the natural evolution of payment systems.

Regarding regulation, Waller called the GENIUS Act "a good start" and pledged to address existing issues progressively during implementation.

Waller's stance on positioning Ethereum and stablecoins as foundational financial infrastructure aligns with key regulatory legislation passed in 2025. Markets interpret this statement as a positive signal for cryptocurrency revaluation.

The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to maintain 1:1 reserves of high-quality liquid assets, while the CLARITY Act clarifies the regulatory framework for digital commodities, eliminating regulatory uncertainty for institutional investors.

**Regulatory Framework Boosts Institutional Confidence**

The GENIUS Act took effect in July 2025, establishing the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States.

The legislation requires stablecoin issuers to hold high-quality liquid assets such as U.S. Treasuries and cash as 1:1 reserves, while clarifying supervisory responsibilities for banking regulators including the OCC and FDIC.

Complementing the GENIUS Act, the House passed the CLARITY Act in July 2025, further clarifying jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and CFTC.

The act classifies non-stablecoin assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as "digital commodities" under CFTC oversight, eliminating regulatory ambiguity for asset management companies and institutional investors.

This dual legislative framework has created a favorable environment for institutional adoption, driving rapid growth in Ethereum-based tokenized assets and ETFs.

Regulatory clarity has directly promoted institutional investment in Ethereum and stablecoins.

As of Q3 2025, Ethereum ETF assets under management reached $27.6 billion, with inflows exceeding Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's ETHA ETF attracted $10 billion in assets under management within ten days of launch.

Corporate funds have also reallocated to the Ethereum sector, with over 64 companies investing $10.1 billion in staking and tokenized real-world assets.

Platforms like BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's Progmat are leveraging Ethereum infrastructure to provide fractional asset ownership, combining traditional finance with blockchain programmability.

Ethereum's technical upgrades have further enhanced its appeal to institutional investors. Following Ethereum's completion of the Pectra and Dencun upgrades, gas fees (transaction costs) decreased by 90%.

Lower fees directly reduced the cost of running decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum, attracting more institutional capital. DeFi total value locked (TVL) reached $223 billion, with massive funds deployed in decentralized financial products including lending, staking, and liquidity pools.

Ethereum's dominance in the stablecoin ecosystem has become more entrenched, with stablecoins issued and circulated on Ethereum capturing 50% of the global market share.