Tom Lee sees "really bullish" 12 months for crypto while BitMine's ether stake sits $5 billion underwater
Tom Lee's call that crypto will be "really bullish" for the next 12 months (BTC near $77,315) lands alongside a disclosure the tape will not ignore: Lee chairs BitMine Immersion Technologies, which holds 5.93 million ether, and BeInCrypto reported this month the position sits roughly $5 billion underwater. Lee also runs research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. The next concrete event for the thesis is Tuesday, when Washington votes on whether to bring the CLARITY Act to debate.
Key takeaways
- Tom Lee predicts crypto will be "really bullish" over the next 12 months, with bitcoin trading near $77,315, about 39% below its record above $126,000.
- Lee chairs BitMine Immersion Technologies, which holds 5.93 million ether in a position reported to be roughly $5 billion underwater.
- On Tuesday, Washington votes on whether to bring the CLARITY Act to debate, which would give the CFTC authority over spot crypto markets.
- Lee's tokenization thesis values moving $100 trillion of assets on chain at a 1% take rate as $1.1 trillion a year in income and a $20 trillion prize.
- BeInCrypto Research counted $60 billion of assets on chain as of May 31—about 0.06% of Lee's $100 trillion base—with 56% recording no weekly transfers.
Tom Lee's call that crypto will be "really bullish" for the next 12 months (BTC near $77,315) lands alongside a disclosure the tape will not ignore: Lee chairs BitMine Immersion Technologies, which holds 5.93 million ether, and BeInCrypto reported this month the position sits roughly $5 billion underwater. Lee also runs research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. The next concrete event for the thesis is Tuesday, when Washington votes on whether to bring the CLARITY Act to debate.
Lee told Wealthion his first argument is that the damage is already settled. On October 10 last year, a threat of 100% tariffs on China triggered what he describes as the largest leveraged liquidation in crypto history, erasing more than $19 billion in borrowed positions in a single day. With that leverage gone, Lee reads the bottom of the four-year cycle many traders use to time the market as arriving next month. Bitcoin trades near $77,315, roughly 39% below its record above $126,000 set in the days before that liquidation. Ether has added 3.2% in 24 hours to around $2,533.
The tokenization number and what it assumes
The bigger thesis is tokenization: moving stocks, bonds, and funds onto blockchains rather than the back-office settlement systems banks run today. BlackRock chief Larry Fink has said every asset can be tokenized. Lee's math holds that shifting $100 trillion of assets on chain, at a 1% take rate, produces $1.1 trillion a year in income and, valued like a conventional business, a $20 trillion prize.
The counter is the actual throughput. Theo chief investment officer Iggy Ioppe calls the current practice "tokenization theater," meaning wrapping an asset and parking it without real flow. BeInCrypto Research's Tokenization 2026 report counted $60 billion on chain as of May 31, with 56% of that value recording no weekly transfers. That $60 billion is roughly 0.06% of the $100 trillion base Lee is pricing.
What to watch
Tuesday's vote determines whether Congress brings the CLARITY Act to debate, which would hand the CFTC authority over spot crypto markets. Lee said the agency already operates that way. Fundstrat has advised a 2% crypto allocation for more than a decade; in client accounts that followed it, Lee said, crypto now represents more than 85% of the portfolio.
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Filed by the digital assets desk of MarketPR on September 12, 2026. Source: finance.yahoo.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.