Foreign media reported that Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, recently reiterated his optimistic outlook on Ethereum, suggesting that ETH still has room to outperform Bitcoin over the coming years. He views the ETH/BTC ratio as a key indicator for observing structural changes in the crypto market.
Lee bets on a new source of demand.
Lee stated that the force driving Ethereum’s next cycle may surpass the scale of previous crypto cycles. The primary focus from 2017 to 2018 was token offerings, while 2020 to 2021 saw rapid expansion in NFTs and decentralized applications. More recently, stablecoin growth has become a major source of activity on Ethereum and other smart contract networks.
He believes that over the coming years, greater attention should be paid to Wall Street’s push toward asset tokenization and the emergence of autonomous AI agents beginning to use blockchains. If these two types of demand continue to grow, they could generate new on-chain transaction and settlement activity.
The ETH/BTC ratio has broken through long-term resistance.
As of the time of this report, the ETH/BTC ratio stood at 0.02994, breaking above a long-term downtrend that has persisted for several years. Lee believes this ratio not only reflects Ethereum’s relative strength versus Bitcoin but also mirrors shifting market demand for smart contract networks.
He previously stated that Ethereum has the potential to become the settlement layer of the future financial system. If real-world assets such as stocks, bonds, and funds increasingly shift to on-chain issuance and trading, demand for Ethereum's infrastructure could rise accordingly.
BitMine discloses its position size
On August 17, BitMine disclosed that it holds 5.8 million ETH, representing approximately 4.8% of Ethereum's total supply of 120.7 million ETH. At a price of $1,893 per ETH, this holding is valued at approximately $11 billion.
The company also stated that it further increased its holdings by 9,926 ETH over the previous week. This disclosure provides the market with indirect insight into institutional positioning and has drawn greater attention to how large investors view Ethereum’s medium- to long-term prospects.