Etherealize CEO Says Permissioned Chains Are a Dead End

Vivek Raman, chief of Etherealize, warns that the rise of private, gated blockchains is heading for a race to the bottom. These closed systems build silos that keep assets from talking to each other, cutting into the promise of a truly open network.

He compares Ethereum’s mainnet to HTTP, the open foundation of the internet, while a permissioned layer works like HTTPS, adding privacy but also limits.

The market is now chasing enterprise sales, and many see curated chains with a clear sponsor as safer bets. Christian Catalini, who led the Diem stablecoin project, says the real money is arriving but the direction is unclear. Etherealize got a seed grant from Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation in early 2025 and later raised $40 million in a Series A round. BlackRock has launched Ethereum‑based funds that use the BUIDL token and now comply with the GENIUS Act rules.

The tension between open and closed networks will decide if decentralization ever becomes real. If curated chains win, the original benefits of blockchain may stay hidden. The industry watches closely to see which path the market chooses.