Tom Lee: Ethereum to Start 'Second Growth Curve,' Wall Street Institutions Continuously Expanding Ecosystem

BlockBeats News, July 13th, Co-founder of Fundstrat and Chairman of Bitmine, Tom Lee, stated in a WebX 2026 speech that Ethereum is at a key juncture similar to when Amazon, Nvidia, and JPMorgan Chase began their second-stage growth.

He believes that Ethereum is following a similar development path. Since its inception, ETH has gone through the ICO frenzy and NFT craze, reaching an all-time high of $4866; in 2025, with the approval of a spot ETF and the rapid proliferation of stablecoins, the price once surged to $4955. The current price has fallen to around $1732, with Tom Lee defining this stage as a "market abandonment in the bottom area." The future growth of ETH 2.0 will be built on four pillars: a new Ethereum Foundation governance structure; Agentic AI; a settlement layer for the financial system; ETH becoming a true "currency."

Tom Lee stated that Wall Street institutions are continuously expanding their presence in the Ethereum ecosystem. These large institutions are actively building Layer 2 networks, indicating that the entire traditional financial system is gradually migrating to the Ethereum ecosystem.

Initially, Bitmine planned to hold 5% of the global ETH supply over five years, but they have now achieved 95% of their goal in just 12 months. Currently, the company holds a total of 5.74 million ETH, representing approximately 4.8% of the total ETH supply. Around 4.87 million ETH (about 85%) of them are staked.