Tom Lee’s Ethereum bet: Why he expects another crypto boom

​Tom Lee spent years championing Bitcoin as one of Wall Street's most outspoken cryptocurrency bulls. Now, he is behind a multibillion-dollar bet on Ethereum through his company Bitmine. What convinced him to shift his focus, and can his strategy deliver?

Bitmine closes in on its Ethereum ownership target

Bitmine Immersion Technologies now holds more than 6.07 million ETH, equivalent to 4.97% of Ethereum's circulating supply. The company disclosed its latest purchase of 9,587 ETH on November 9, bringing it close to its ownership target. Its holdings were valued at approximately $13.6 billion using the company's reported ETH price of $2,234.

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Bitmine has staked about 5.23 million ETH, generating additional tokens through Ethereum's proof-of-stake system. The company estimates that fully staking its holdings could produce approximately $359 million in annualized rewards, although actual returns depend on network conditions and ETH prices.

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee also welcomed Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's recent comments describing ETH as a store of value. He called the statement a “seismic shift,” arguing that it clarified how Ethereum could benefit from a coming investment boom driven by tokenization and artificial intelligence.

How Tom Lee became one of Bitcoin's biggest advocates

Lee, co-founder of financial research firm Fundstrat, was among the first prominent Wall Street strategists to embrace Bitcoin. He began recommending BTC to clients in 2017, when the cryptocurrency traded near $1,000, and became known for his ambitious price forecasts.

His conviction survived repeated market crashes. Lee viewed Bitcoin's limited supply and expanding adoption as reasons to expect long-term appreciation, even as short-term volatility frequently challenged his predictions. His forecasts sometimes proved overly optimistic, but he remained one of the cryptocurrency's most recognizable institutional supporters.

Even after shifting his attention toward Ethereum, Lee continued to defend Bitcoin's prospects. Speaking at Korea Blockchain Week last year, he said, “I'm still bullish on Bitcoin,” while forecasting that BTC could reach $200,000 to $250,000 by the end of that year. The forecast did not materialize, illustrating the gap that can emerge between his long-term conviction and short-term price expectations.

Why Lee shifted his focus to Ethereum

Lee's growing interest in Ethereum reflected his belief that blockchain technology was moving beyond cryptocurrency trading and into traditional finance. Banks and asset managers were exploring stablecoins, tokenized securities and blockchain-based settlement, creating opportunities for networks capable of supporting these services.

In June 2025, Lee became chairman of Bitmine, previously focused on Bitcoin mining and immersion-cooling technology. The company announced a $250 million private placement to finance an Ethereum treasury strategy. Within weeks, its ETH holdings had grown to approximately $1 billion, marking a dramatic transformation of the business.

Lee argued that Ethereum's neutrality made it particularly attractive to financial institutions. At Korea Blockchain Week, he described it as a “truly neutral chain,” explaining: “If you think about how Wall Street operates, they will only wanna do and operate on a neutral chain.”

Lee bets on an Ethereum supercycle

Lee believes Ethereum could experience a prolonged period of growth comparable to Bitcoin's earlier rise. His supercycle thesis rests on the expectation that blockchain technology will become an integral part of global financial infrastructure, with Ethereum emerging as one of its principal networks.

Artificial intelligence is another part of his investment thesis. Lee expects autonomous AI agents and robots to conduct transactions and exchange value through blockchain networks. He has suggested that Ethereum could benefit from this emerging economy, although the scale and timing of such adoption remain uncertain.

His latest comments also reflect a shift in how he expects ETH to capture value. Following Buterin's remarks, Lee described ETH as “pristine and trusted collateral” rather than primarily a token whose investment appeal depends on transaction-fee revenue. He believes institutions may increasingly hold ETH as a financial asset alongside using Ethereum's infrastructure.

However, greater blockchain adoption does not automatically guarantee stronger demand for ETH. Layer-2 networks reduce transaction costs, while financial institutions can use Ethereum-based applications without necessarily accumulating substantial amounts of the token. The investment case depends partly on whether ETH becomes an asset institutions want to hold, rather than simply use.

Can Bitmine's Ethereum strategy pay off?

Bitmine is also seeking to expand its business through MAVAN, an institutional Ethereum staking platform launched in March 2026. Originally developed for the company's own holdings, it now also serves institutional investors, custodians and other partners. The platform could help Bitmine build a business around Ethereum infrastructure rather than relying exclusively on the value of its treasury.

The company's strategy has already faced a major test. In February 2026, Lee defended Bitmine against criticism of billions of dollars in unrealized losses, arguing that such drawdowns were “not a bug, but a feature” of a long-term treasury strategy. His response underscored a fundamental difference between Bitmine and a conventional operating business: its financial results remain closely tied to the price of ETH.

The next challenge may be less about buying Ethereum and more about managing what Bitmine already owns. At the Token2049 conference in October, Lee confirmed that the company would soon end its aggressive purchases. “That's a hard cap. We're not gonna be accumulating past 5%,” he said.

With that milestone approaching, Bitmine's future will depend not only on whether Lee's Ethereum supercycle materializes, but also on whether the company can turn its vast holdings into lasting value for shareholders.