Benjamin Cowen Disagrees with Tom Lee's Bitcoin Bottom Call Amid Market Weakness

Benjamin Cowen, founder of the crypto research platform Into the Cryptoverse, has pushed back against Tom Lee’s suggestion that Bitcoin may be nearing a market bottom around $77,000.

In a post on X, Cowen said he was surprised by the timing of the call, noting that selling pressure remains strong across the broader crypto market.

• Benjamin Cowen rejected Tom Lee’s claim that Bitcoin is nearing a market bottom.
• Tom Lee said crypto markets show signs of stabilization despite continued price weakness.
• Bitcoin fell below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025 amid sustained selling pressure.
• Ethereum dropped more than 20% over the past week, deepening stress across the market.
• Bitmine Immersion Technologies is sitting on an estimated $6.6 billion in unrealized losses on its Ethereum holdings.

Cowen’s comments followed public remarks from Lee, who recently suggested that the latest downturn may be losing momentum.

During a Monday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Lee said several indicators point to a potential bottom forming across crypto markets. As chair of Ethereum-focused treasury firm Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Lee emphasized that industry fundamentals remain intact despite recent price weakness.

He pointed to continued activity on the Ethereum network as a key signal of underlying strength and referenced the crypto market’s estimated $3.6 trillion valuation. According to Lee, sustained network engagement could help support a price recovery.

Lee also cited a Bitmine advisor who has been calling for Bitcoin to fall to $77,000 and Ethereum to $2,400 since November. The advisor believes that time and price have now aligned, a factor Lee said reinforces his view that the market may be bottoming.

Cowen responded publicly to Lee’s remarks, saying he was shocked by the suggestion that Bitcoin could already be bottoming. His reaction underscored a clear disagreement with what he viewed as an overly optimistic assessment.

The debate comes as Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 level over the weekend for the first time since April 2025. CoinGecko data shows the asset dropped to a low of $74,700 before stabilizing.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading near $78,373, down roughly 11.3% from the week prior. The move has unsettled investors and fueled uncertainty over whether the market has found durable support or is merely pausing before further losses.

Lee’s comments have drawn additional attention, given his role at Bitmine, which holds a sizable Ethereum position accumulated at significantly higher price levels.

I, for one, am shocked that he would say this.

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) February 2, 2026

Ethereum’s recent performance adds further context to the disagreement. Specifically, over the past week, the token declined by more than 20%, falling to a low of $2,157. Later, prices stabilized around $2,316, the lowest level since June. Consequently, Ethereum is now trading roughly 53% below its August all-time high of $4,946.

These losses have intensified scrutiny of firms with large Ethereum exposures, particularly those that expanded aggressively during the market’s peak.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies shifted its business model in June, moving away from Bitcoin mining toward large-scale accumulation of Ethereum. The firm has stated its long-term goal of controlling about 5% of Ethereum’s total supply, or roughly six million tokens.

Currently, Bitmine holds approximately 4.3 million ETH, much of it acquired at an average price of $3,800-$3,900. As Ethereum prices retreated, the company’s unrealized losses have grown to an estimated $6.6 billion. If realized, the position would rank among the largest financial losses ever recorded.

As Bitcoin continues to hover near levels testing investor confidence, the question of whether the market has truly bottomed remains unresolved.