While the question of whether the rise in Ethereum ($ETH) price will continue is debated, Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and Chairman of the Board of BitMine, made noteworthy statements about the market’s largest altcoin. Lee believes that Ethereum could reach its all-time high and surpass $5,000 before the end of 2026.
In his interview, Lee stated that Ethereum has consolidated within a wide price range for approximately five years, and claimed that opportunities for $ETH in the coming period have become much stronger compared to the past. According to Lee, the fact that financial institutions are beginning to evaluate blockchain infrastructures is what makes Ethereum stand out. Ethereum’s long history of operation, high security, wide use case, and liquidity offer significant advantages for institutional players.
Lee, recalling that Ethereum rose approximately 17-fold from the 2018 bear market until 2021, argued that a similar surge on a larger scale is possible in the long term. He stated that Ethereum could potentially surpass its previous peak of around $5,000 by 10 to 12 times, suggesting a scenario that could propel the $ETH price back to around $60,000 within the next few years. However, Lee emphasized that the $60,000 level is not a short-term or 12-month price target.
“Ethereum Could Reach New Highs This Year”
Speaking more concretely about the short term, Lee stated that the previous all-time high might create psychological resistance, but he doesn’t expect it to halt Ethereum’s rise.
Lee answered “absolutely” to the question of whether Ethereum could reach an all-time high this year, stating that the $3,000 level is reasonable in the short term, and that prices significantly above $5,000 could follow. Lee also believes that the current cryptocurrency bull market could be permanent and that the sector is still in the early stages of its uptrend cycle.
Lee also noted Ethereum’s recent rise from $1,500 to $2,800, arguing that this movement received surprisingly little attention in the market. According to Lee, some large market players faced significant losses because they took positions against the rise. He believes this indicates that investor positioning in the market has not yet fully reflected Ethereum’s price performance.
Lee’s optimism about Ethereum isn’t solely based on the price chart. The renowned analyst believes that tokenization is one of the most important developments that could move the traditional finance sector to a blockchain infrastructure.
According to Lee, the tokenization of stocks and other financial assets will not only enable markets to trade 24/7. Blockchain technology could also facilitate the creation of new financial products, the use of assets as collateral, and the elimination of numerous intermediaries in existing financial transactions. Lee noted that today, a credit card transaction goes through many different intermediaries and regulatory functions, whereas a significant portion of these could be executed through smart contracts on a single blockchain.
Lee also considers Wall Street’s increasing interest in stablecoin and tokenization technologies a significant development, stating that financial companies can create new revenue streams by digitizing assets. According to him, for companies to adopt blockchain technology on a large scale, the technology needs to offer a significant advantage over existing systems in terms of operational efficiency, revenue generation, or customer experience.
Lee also believes that Robinhood’s choice of Ethereum for its blockchain infrastructure is a significant indicator of the network’s potential for enterprise use. According to Lee, Ethereum’s high security and liquidity played a key role in this choice, and the network’s story is evolving from simply a blockchain generating revenue from transaction fees to a progressively more powerful “store of value” narrative.
Lee: “AI Can Also Support Ethereum and Crypto Demand”
Another long-term catalyst highlighted by Lee was artificial intelligence. Lee stated that AI agents will conduct economic transactions with each other in the future, and he believes that blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure could play a significant role, especially in small-amount, high-frequency payments.
According to Lee, machine-to-machine micro-payments via cryptocurrencies could be more economical than traditional payment systems. Therefore, the growth of the AI economy could further expand the use of blockchain infrastructures.
*This is not investment advice.
