Tom Lee says he sees ETH hitting $250k, and BitMine holds 5.74 million ETH — this time I choose to trust only half

Tom Lee fired another big shot at WebX 2026: he expects ETH’s long-term target price to point to $250k. The reason is that ETH is entering a “2.0 phase,” drawing an analogy to how Amazon and Nvidia made valuation jumps from 1.0 to 2.0. The driving factors include the new foundation era, Agenci-AI, a financial settlement layer, and ETH as a currency.

He also disclosed that BitMine already holds 5.74 million ETH, representing 4.8% of the supply, with a goal to increase to 5%. At the same time, as the lead investor, he supported two institutions spun out from the Ethereum Foundation—EthLabs and Ethereum Institutional—each focusing on “institutional super cycles” and large-scale institutional financial activity on-chain, respectively.

Here are a few points:

$250k is a number to hear and take with a grain of salt. Based on the current price, it would mean ETH needs to rise 150x from here. It’s not impossible, but that’s a timescale of more than ten years—not something for tomorrow or next year. Tom Lee is known for long-term optimism, and his target price is better understood as a “belief top-up,” not as a basis for trading.

What’s truly worth paying attention to is BitMine’s position-building. 5.74 million ETH, or 4.8% of the supply, is close to a single-entity holding of 5%—an influence you can’t ignore in any asset class. He’s still buying, aiming for 5%. This isn’t a hype call; it’s real money placing a bet.

The institutionalization path is becoming clearer. The “ETH 2.0” Tom Lee mentioned doesn’t refer to a technical upgrade—it refers to a narrative shift for Ethereum from “crypto asset” to “financial infrastructure.” The two institutions he invested in also point in clear directions: one focuses on institutional adoption, while the other focuses on large-scale financial activity on-chain—pushing ETH toward institutional-grade application scenarios.

But the short-term reality is this: ETH is still struggling in the 1,600–1,700 range; ETF outflows are ongoing; on-chain activity remains lackluster. $250k is beyond the horizon for now—right now, the question is whether it can first hold above 1,700. $ETH #伊朗宣布关闭霍尔木兹海峡