Author: Olivier Acuna; Compiler: AididiaoJP

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee makes his boldest ETH prediction yet: first $5,000, then 50x more. (Image: Olivier Acuna/CoinDesk)

Key points

• Ethereum could eventually reach $250,000 as AI and tokenization drive a major shift in financial infrastructure, Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat and chairman of Bitmine, told a conference in Paris.

• Bitmine recently bought 111,942 ETH, increasing its holdings to nearly 5.4 million ETH, or approximately 4.47% of the circulating supply. Lee believes that enterprise validators will replace the shrinking Ethereum Foundation as the main stewards of the network.

• Lee stated that Bitmine has qualified for inclusion in the Russell 1000 Index and said that its dedicated staking model is far superior to directly holding spot ETH. He believes the current bearish sentiment marks a market bottom for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The cryptocurrency market is paying attention to the wrong signals, while a seismic shift in the way the global financial network operates is happening quietly.

In a keynote speech at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris, Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat and chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), told the audience that Ethereum (ETH) is undergoing a major change that will eventually push its price to $250,000. While Lee didn't give a specific timeline, he detailed the infrastructure shifts that will drive the network toward this value.

Ethereum prices were trading around $1,906 on Tuesday, down 6% in 24 hours.

Lee’s Bitmine is one of the largest corporate holders of Ethereum. The company stepped up its ETH buying efforts last week, completing its largest purchase of the year - 111,942 ETH (worth approximately $237 million at current prices). The move increased its holdings to nearly 5.4 million ETH, accounting for approximately 4.47% of Ethereum’s circulating supply.

“If the thesis is correct and Ethereum is about to break out of consolidation, and the catalyst for the breakout is tokenization and AI, then I think there’s probably about a 50x upside – a significant upside for Ethereum. If ETH achieves that goal and Ethereum hits $250,000, then Bitmine stock will be worth $5,000. $18 right now is a steal.”

Trillion-dollar growth

Lee explained that this trillion-dollar growth will be driven by artificial intelligence. As advanced software and automated computing take over the internet, there is a need for an instant way to pay between machines without relying on slow traditional bank transfers.

"Bots are on the verge of dominating most of the traffic on the Internet," Lee said. "That's why institutions like Andreessen Horowitz call it the 'Great Unification.' If you have robot systems, you have to control them. And blockchain is much more effective at controlling robot behavior than traditional systems. Whether it's identity authentication, identity recognition, or payment speed, all of these perform better on encrypted systems."

Because of this machine-to-machine economic model, Lee believes that Ethereum will transform from a speculative digital asset to a major global currency that pays for automated computing power.

The Ethereum Foundation is gradually losing its right to speak

This systemic growth is revolutionizing the way underlying blockchain networks are managed. Lee noted that the non-profit Ethereum Foundation has been shrinking its footprint over the years, with its network holdings falling to just 100,000 ETH — just 0.1% of the total supply.

Instead, large public companies are entering the network as enterprise validators. Corporate entities like Bitmine and Sharplink currently collectively control approximately 7% of the network’s circulating Ethereum supply. Instead of relying on foundation grants, these corporate treasuries generate approximately $500 million in annual staking rewards to self-fund the ecosystem.

To demonstrate the value of this model, Lee announced a major regulatory milestone for Bitmine - the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMNR.

“Bitmine is also eligible for inclusion in the Russell 1000 Index,” Lee revealed. "The inclusion date is June 26. Why does this matter? The Russell 1000 is the most widely tracked index in the world... Every fund manager in the world who benchmarks against the Russell 1000 - more than $4 trillion in total - must decide whether to hold Bitmine."

Lee explains with a demo chart that holding shares of active corporate validators far outperforms buying spot cryptocurrencies directly. Over a benchmark six-month period, holding regular spot ETH returned 22%, while Bitmine’s staking structure generated 500% returns for investors.

In Lee’s view, the huge structural growth in enterprise staking and AI utility completely overwhelms any temporary market panic. "If you're still bearish today, you're selling at the bottom," Lee concluded. "I stress again, if you are short Bitcoin and Ethereum today, you are short at the bottom."