Tom Lee, veteran buying and selling analyst, Fundstrat co‑founder, and the strategist behind BitMine’s Ethereum treasury technique, is as soon as once more championing Ethereum.
During an interview with Mario Nawfal on X, Lee acknowledged how the broader crypto neighborhood appeared to desert Ethereum in favor of sooner alternate options like Solana and Sui. However, institutional buyers, significantly Wall Street gamers, worth one thing way more essential, which solely Ethereum can present.
Retail Chases Speed, Wall Street Favors Reliability
In the interview, Lee challenges the assumption that blockchain networks should prioritize transaction velocity above all. Rather, he argues that institutional buyers, significantly Wall Street buyers, place a lot larger worth on uptime and reliability, qualities that Ethereum has regardless of being slower at its base layer.
Lee stated that retail buyers deserted Ethereum as a result of they thought sooner was higher, main them towards high-throughput networks like Solana and Sui with seemingly superior economics. But in accordance with him, Wall Street thinks otherwise. Institutions prioritize “100 % uptime,” as a result of they will at all times deploy on layer‑2 options to compensate for Ethereum’s base-layer velocity limitations.
Interestingly, Lee pointed to staking as one other issue through which Ethereum is healthier than its counterparts. According to Lee, staking isn’t nearly yield, however it’s about affect. “If Goldman stakes sufficient ETH, they’ve a constructive voice on the Ethereum itself and the way they improve,” he stated. In quick, institutional stakeholders like Goldman Sachs would care extra about influencing Ethereum by way of staking, however this isn’t a weak spot.
Lee famous that many veteran buyers he not too long ago spoke with nonetheless see Ethereum as underperforming, not due to any technological shortcomings, however as a result of its worth constantly lagged behind Bitcoin for months. However, this notion is now starting to shift with Ethereum’s worth motion since July.
After Ethereum broke previous $4,800, the energy in worth is enhancing confidence amongst crypto buyers, and this momentum may set the stage for a lot bigger progress for its worth motion within the close to future.
Ethereum Price Action
Ethereum certainly has been on a exceptional upward arc since July. In late August 2025, the Ethereum worth smashed by way of its earlier all‑time excessive and traded above $4,880 for the primary time since 2021, earlier than lastly peaking at $4,946. This, in flip, noticed the Ethereum complete market cap nearly hitting the $600 billion mark
The rally wasn’t simply worth motion. It echoed structural shifts within the institutional influx dynamics into giant cryptocurrencies, particularly as seen within the efficiency of Spot Ethereum ETFs in comparison with Bitcoin.
Although Ethereum has since entered right into a correction path down to the $4,400 degree, the sentiment surrounding Ethereum remains to be bullish. Analysts have raised 12 months‑finish forecasts of Ethereum from between $6,000 and $12,000, primarily based on elevated institutional engagement and a constructive affect from the US Genius Act. At the time of writing, Ethereum is buying and selling at $4,390, up by 1.1% prior to now 24 hours.
Featured picture from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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