Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine (BMNR) and co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, has pinpointed surging oil prices as the key short-term factor behind Ethereum’s recent weakness. Ethereum has erased all its May gains, falling nearly 10% over the past week and touching an April low of $2,097.
In a post on X, Lee explained that the inverse correlation between ETH and oil has reached an all-time high. Over the last six weeks, Brent crude oil climbed roughly 15% toward $110 per barrel amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and concerns over the Strait of Hormuz. “To me, rising oil prices is the biggest headwind, ETH inverse correlation to oil is the highest ever,” Lee stated.
He views this dynamic as “short-term tactical noise” and expects that a cooling of oil prices could trigger a meaningful ETH price recovery. Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs have seen five consecutive days of outflows totaling over $255 million, reflecting cautious institutional sentiment. Prediction markets show a 56% probability of ETH dropping below $2,000 this month.
Lee remains bullish on Ethereum’s long-term prospects, citing two structural trends: the tokenization of real-world assets and the rise of AI agents operating on Ethereum’s infrastructure. BitMine Immersion Technologies has accumulated 4.71 million staked ETH, worth about $11.1 billion, making it the world’s largest corporate holder of Ethereum.
