Tom Lee: Crypto Market Nowhere Near a Peak as Institutional Adoption Quietly Builds
Despite rising prices across digital assets, the crypto market remains in the early stages of institutional adoption, according to Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and chairman of Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine Immersion (BMNR). Speaking with CoinDesk TV, Lee dismissed the idea that current price action marks a top, arguing that investor skepticism is actually a bullish signal.
Lee described the rally that began in April as “the most hated V-shaped recovery in history,” pointing to how quickly sentiment flipped after a sharp sell-off triggered by President Trump’s tariff announcements earlier this summer. “Economists were calling for a recession, and investors were pulling back from risk,” Lee said. “But just like every recovery since 2020, this one caught people by surprise.”
He believes much of the recent strength in the market is being driven by quiet institutional accumulation, particularly in ether and bitcoin. Ethereum, he said, has emerged as the preferred infrastructure for tokenization thanks to its robust uptime and legal clarity. “Ethereum has never experienced downtime — that matters to financial institutions,” he added.
Bitmine itself is actively positioning for this shift. The firm now holds 625,000 ETH and manages nearly $2.8 billion in assets, with no outstanding debt. It recently announced a $1 billion share buyback and reiterated its intention to accumulate 5% of the total ETH supply.
Lee also noted that bitcoin, currently trading near $114,974, continues to attract institutional capital. He believes the Federal Reserve’s expected pivot to rate cuts in the coming months could act as a major catalyst, potentially driving BTC to $250,000.
As for ether, now priced around $3,700, Lee places a long-term valuation at $15,000 based on network utility and fundamentals.
“We’re not near the top,” Lee concluded. “This is a mid-cycle move — and the real driver is institutional adoption, which is still in its early innings.”
