Former BlackRock Executive Joseph Chalom: Over 95% of stablecoins are denominated in US dollars, and Asian regulators should not let the payment trajectory be dominated by the US dollar

Comparing the news, it was reported live that HashKey Capital CEO Deng Chao and Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom attended the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival conversation to discuss “From Finance to Strategy: How Listed Companies Use Digital Assets as the Basis for Layouts”.

Chalom worked at BlackRock for 20 years and began leading BlackRock's blockchain and digital assets team six years ago, during which time he launched Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, raising a total of about $100 billion at its peak. He said he chose Ethereum over Bitcoin to establish a digital asset vault because Ethereum is a “native productive asset” and can obtain nearly 3% of profit through staking, while Bitcoin can only be held and waited to rise in value. Sharplink has already been listed on the NASDAQ. Since launching the digital asset vault strategy in June last year, it has raised billions of dollars to buy Ethereum. Currently, it holds about 770,000 ETH, and has earned investors about 17,000 ETH and more than 35 million dollars in rewards through staking.

In terms of industry trends, he pointed out that Ethereum is dominating the three major use cases: stablecoins (over 60% occur on Ethereum), asset tokenization, and decentralized finance. He specifically warned that currently more than 95% of stablecoins are denominated in US dollars. If stablecoins become payment tracks for trillions of transactions in the AI smart economy, Asian regulators should not let them be dominated by the US dollar and US Treasury bonds, which will trigger a geographical competition to promote local stablecoin legislation.

Referring to the market cycle, he said that the crypto market has experienced a significant retracement since October last year, and short-term prices cannot be predicted, but in the long run, the current risk-reward ratio is at its best level in a long time. He emphasized that digital asset vaults are not passive investments; Ethereum is a highly volatile asset, and volatility is a characteristic of capital appreciation rather than a defect.