Tom Lee Says Ethereum’s Biggest Bull Case Is No Longer Crypto
The Ethereum (ETH) bull case no longer rests on crypto-native speculation, according to Bitmine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee. He argues that Wall Street adoption is the new growth driver and that investors are quitting at the wrong moment.
ETH trades near $1,880, about 60% below its 2025 peak near $5,000. However, Lee believes that the gap reflects a transition rather than a ceiling.
Wall Street Replaces Speculation in the Ethereum Bull Case
Lee laid out the thesis in Bitmine’s July Chairman’s message. Ethereum’s first era, powered by ICOs, NFTs, ETFs, and stablecoins, saw ETH twice trade near $5,000. In his view, the next era belongs to institutions.
“Unlike the crypto bear market of 2022, Wall Street is building on Ethereum.”
The names support him. BlackRock’s BUIDL now holds roughly $2.6 billion in tokenized Treasuries and has earned Moody’s top money-market rating this year.
BUIDL secures AAA rating from Moody’s, setting the standard for tokenized funds. pic.twitter.com/qsIRBv1bdA
— Securitize (@Securitize) May 13, 2026
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JPMorgan followed with its MONY fund, extending a tokenization push it began with Onyx in 2020.
Lee also counts nearly 6,000 developers on the EVM stack, citing Electric Capital data that ranks Ethereum first for new builders. Meanwhile, new institutional vehicles keep deepening that bench.
Robinhood Chain Makes ETH Money, Lee Says
Robinhood Chain, live since July 1 on Arbitrum, anchors the argument. Within two weeks, it ranked third among all networks by DEX volume at about $811 million daily, passing Ethereum itself, per DefiLlama.
Ethereum has since taken back its position, and Base has also surpassed Robinhood following warnings from analysts at Artemis.
Notwithstanding, Lee says cumulative volume has since crossed $1 billion.
“Robinhood Chain is a big deal because it uses ETH as the native gas token. The transaction fees are denominated in ETH, and they settle on the Ethereum L1. Guess what? That sounds like ETH is money.”
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has argued that everything running on traditional rails will eventually move on-chain.
ROBINHOOD CEO EXPLAINED WHY CRYPTO IS THE FUTURE.“EVERYTHING RUNNING ON TRADITIONAL RAILS WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE ON-CHAIN.”THAT'S A MASSIVE PREDICTION 🚀 pic.twitter.com/fYWy9WFVqd
— Vivek Sen (@Vivek4real_) July 6, 2026
Lee compares today’s Ethereum to Amazon. The stock stalled near a split-adjusted $6 for 12 years, then climbed to $241 as its addressable market expanded.
“I think people are rage quitting at the bottom for Ethereum here.”
The Case Against the Thesis
Lee concedes the bearish read. ETH has failed twice at the same ceiling, and skeptics see little reason for a different outcome this cycle.
“Many people are going to look at ETH here and say, look, the top of the range is 5,000, and they don’t see further upside.”
The economics also cut both ways. Robinhood Chain pays Ethereum’s base layer almost nothing in fees, and Artemis CEO Jon Ma warns its boom remains meme coin driven rather than institutional.
Lee is also far from neutral. BitMine reported 5.77 million ETH in its latest weekly disclosure, about 4.8% of the 120.7 million supply. That makes Lee among the biggest beneficiaries if institutional adoption confirms his thesis.
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