Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and head of Bitmine, known for his bullish statements on the crypto market, shared his career journey during the program he attended and provided notable insights into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital asset vaults.
Lee presented one of the most aggressive pricing frameworks ever for Ethereum. Noting that the historical ETH/BTC ratio has averaged around 0.08, Lee said, “If some people think Bitcoin will go to $200,000 (and I do), then Ethereum will simply revert to its long-term average, which means the ETH price will be $16,000.”
In a more advanced scenario, Lee put forward the idea that Ethereum's network value could be on par with Bitcoin, suggesting that this could mean an ETH price of around $250,000. Recalling that AI company OpenAI would likely be valued at $1 trillion if it went public, Lee said, “OpenAI would be worth about three times as much as Ethereum today. If Ethereum becomes the dominant infrastructure on the blockchain side, why wouldn't the valuation be in the trillions?” He argued that the current $3,000 ETH level remains attractive from the perspective of “possible future options.”
Lee also touched on October's sharp decline, describing the volatility on October 10 as a “glitch.” He explained that an automatic deleveraging (ADL) mechanism was triggered for one stablecoin due to “price opportunism” based on incorrect pricing on only one exchange, while on other platforms the stablecoin remained at the $1 level.
“If this pricing was compound, no one would liquidate at that level. They would say, ‘This is a divergence, wait,’” Lee said, adding that the automated operation of the code has turned an ADL (automatic liquidity level) that started on one exchange into a global liquidation cycle. Nevertheless, he said Bitcoin holdings of about $86,000 to $92,000 and Ethereum at about $3,100 form a strong foundation similar to the 2022 bear market lows.
Lee said Bitmine believes Ethereum has bottomed out, adding: “We have doubled the amount of ETH we are purchasing compared to two weeks ago. We are keeping our promise.”
Regarding Bitmine's ETH positions, Lee said the company holds approximately 3.7 million ETH, which is more Ethereum than all other DATs combined. “I cannot imagine a scenario where Bitmine sells ETH in the long term. There is no reason to sell when there is a return on staking,” he reiterated, adding that ETH in the treasury is a “permanent” strategic asset.
“If Bitcoin closes above $126,000 by January 31st, that classic four-year cycle story will effectively end,” Lee said, adding that investors will see a clearer picture of the cycle discussion in the coming weeks.
Tom Lee said that according to traditional four-year cycle logic, 2026 should be expected to be a “bad year” for Bitcoin, but he thinks the opposite.
“I think next year will be a great year for cryptocurrencies because this story is no longer just about ‘digital gold,’ it’s about tokenization,” Lee said, adding that bringing real-world assets and financial instruments onto the blockchain will spark a new wave of ownership, construction, and product development.
*This is not investment advice.
