Fundstrat founder Tom Lee has publicly defended Ethereum's long-term case, arguing that the cryptocurrency's prolonged price stagnation reflects investor impatience rather than deteriorating fundamentals. In a November 10 post on X, Lee acknowledged that ETH's sluggish performance has been disappointing, but he attributed it largely to market impatience, pointing to what he described as steady and visible progress toward a tokenization supercycle in 2026, with the vast majority of activity happening on Ethereum.
His optimism drew heavily on Vitalik Buterin's recent declaration at the Devcon 8 event in Mumbai, where the Ethereum co-founder stated: "I've finally made up my mind, ETH is a store of value, ETH is money." Lee characterized Buterin's statement as a "seismic shift" that will clarify how the token captures value in the coming cycle, in which tokenization and artificial intelligence will feature prominently. Lee also pushed back against the idea that AI is consuming all incremental capital that might otherwise flow into crypto, insisting that the crypto bull market just started.
Meanwhile, Bitmine — where Lee serves as chairman — has reported a staggering $6.3 billion net loss for the fiscal year ended August 31, driven primarily by unrealized declines in the value of its Ethereum treasury as ETH prices fell. The company reportedly holds approximately 5.9 million ETH, representing roughly 4.9% of Ethereum's circulating supply. Unrealized losses reflect a reduction in the market value of assets that have not necessarily been sold, meaning Bitmine may continue holding its ETH despite the reported decline. The company also reported that 5.2 million of those coins were staked, with a seven-day staking yield of 2.65%. According to CoinGecko, ETH was trading near $2,100 at the time of writing, down nearly 16% over 30 days and almost 42% lower than one year earlier.
The figures underscore how cryptocurrency price movements can significantly influence businesses that maintain substantial digital asset reserves. Despite the reported losses, Bitmine's financial outlook remains closely tied to Ethereum's future market performance, with investors likely monitoring whether the company maintains its holdings or adjusts its treasury strategy.
