The chief executive of ether.fi says the rise of neobanks and digitally native financial institutions will be a major driver of Ethereum’s growth in 2026, as blockchain infrastructure becomes more deeply integrated into mainstream financial services.
Speaking to CoinDesk, ether.fi CEO Mike Silagadze said neobanks are increasingly looking beyond traditional payment rails and legacy banking systems, turning instead to programmable blockchains like Ethereum to support faster settlements, tokenised assets and on-chain yield products.
According to Silagadze, Ethereum’s strength lies in its role as a neutral, global settlement layer that can support regulated financial innovation without being tied to any single jurisdiction. He noted that many neobanks are already experimenting with stablecoins, tokenised treasuries and blockchain-based savings products, most of which are built on Ethereum or its layer-2 networks.
He added that regulatory clarity in major markets, particularly the United States and Europe, is making it easier for fintech firms to integrate Ethereum-based services without exposing themselves to excessive compliance risk. This, combined with improvements in scalability and transaction costs through rollups and protocol upgrades, is expected to accelerate institutional adoption.
Silagadze also pointed to the growing role of staking and restaking in Ethereum’s ecosystem, arguing that yield-bearing crypto products could appeal to neobanks seeking alternatives to low-margin traditional deposits. Platforms such as ether.fi, which focus on liquid staking and decentralised infrastructure, are positioning themselves to benefit from this shift.
Market analysts say Ethereum’s outlook for 2026 will largely depend on real-world usage rather than speculative trading, with neobanks and fintech firms seen as a critical bridge between traditional finance and decentralised systems.
