Vivek Raman, co-founder and CEO of Etherealize, stated that Wall Street's obsession with private, centralized, permissioned blockchains is creating "a race to the bottom." He believes these networks erode the potential that blockchain technology aims to achieve by creating isolated silos that do not interoperate with each other. Raman emphasized the need for a global, open, permissionless infrastructure as the underlying layer, with permissioning mechanisms built on top at the application or L2 layer to achieve maximum interoperability and liquidity. He noted that institutions like BlackRock investing in open networks such as Ethereum is the right direction, as institutional capital will flow to "rails" that are not owned by anyone once regulatory clarity is achieved.