It is backed by BitMine and SharpLink, the two large ETH treasury firms, plus Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin and Mihai Alisie.

Spun out of the Ethereum Foundation's institutional team, the group acts as a neutral point of contact for banks and asset managers exploring tokenization, stablecoins and onchain markets. It says more than 100 ecosystem organizations, from Circle and Fireblocks to Uniswap Labs and Securitize, stand behind it.

Run day to day by executive director David Walsh, with Tom Lee and SharpLink's Joseph Chalom on its board, the nonprofit will spend the funds on institutional education, market intelligence, standards and events. Ethereum Institutional has no token.