Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and chairman of BitMine Technologies, predicts that Ethereum could “flip” Bitcoin in the same way that Wall Street has surpassed the role of gold in the modern financial system.
The executive also predicted that ETH could reach $60,000 by 2030, which would represent an increase of about 1,510% from its current price of $3,727.
Why Ethereum can challenge Bitcoin's market leadership
In an interview with ARK Invest's Cathie Wood and Brett Winton on Thursday, Lee explained why he believes Ethereum could eventually overtake Bitcoin in market capitalization, drawing historical parallels. He pointed to 1971, when the United States abandoned the gold standard. This move initially drove up gold prices as investors sought the safety of tangible assets.
Nevertheless, it was Wall Street's innovations—the creation of money market funds, mortgage-backed securities, and other financial instruments—that ultimately reshaped world markets and strengthened the dollar's dominance. Over time, stocks and financial instruments built around the dollar grew, overshadowing the valuable but immutable gold.
“In 1971, the dollar no longer had any backing, so it became a fully synthetic dollar. So there was a risk that the world would go off the dollar standard. So Wall Street took steps to create products that advertised the future of Wall Street. By the end of that period, the dollar's dominance rose from 27% of GDP to 57% of central bank reserves and 80% of financial exchange rates,” Lee elaborated.
Lee suggested that a similar movement is currently playing out in cryptocurrencies. He pointed out that Bitcoin is digital gold, a primordial store of value. Ethereum, on the other hand, represents the infrastructure on which the next wave of financial products and tokenized assets will be built.
“We believe that in 2025, everything is becoming tokenized. So, not just the dollar, but dollar domination of stocks and real estate by moving to blockchain, which is a stablecoin, will be an opportunity for Ethereum. So digital gold is Bitcoin. And in that world, we believe that Ethereum can flip Bitcoin in the same way that Wall Street and stocks flipped gold post-71,” Lee said.
But the official stressed that this was still a “realistic theory.” He also added that he remains bullish on Bitcoin and expects its long-term fair value to be between $1.5 million and $2.1 million.
Lee also expects ETH to reach $60,000 per token by the end of this decade. In the short term, he also expects Bitcoin to reach $200,000 and Ethereum to reach $10,000 to $12,000 by the end of 2025, underscoring his confidence in both assets.
Rapid increase in Ethereum developers accelerates its “reversal” potential
Although Ethereum currently lags behind Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization, it has already surpassed Bitcoin in one important area: developer activity. The Ethereum Foundation highlighted that 16,181 new developers joined its ecosystem between January and September 2025.
Solana followed with 11,534 developers. Additionally, Bitcoin collected 7,494 during the same period.
“Developers new to crypto overwhelmingly prefer the Ethereum ecosystem. In 2025, Ethereum will still be home to the largest developer ecosystem of any blockchain,” the post reads.
As adoption grows and smart contract innovation continues, Ethereum’s platform advantage will grow. While it remains unclear whether Ethereum will surpass Bitcoin in market capitalization, Lee's prediction and the ongoing developer migration highlight the growing belief that programmable assets and DeFi will define the next era of global finance.
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