On June 30, Tom Lee of Fundstrat became the chairman of Bitmine (BMNR +3.83%), and with his arrival came a notable pivot in business strategy. The Bitcoin mining company completed a private placement for $250 million, and it used that money to buy Ethereum (ETH 1.22%).
It's surprising to see a Bitcoin mining company invest in a different cryptocurrency. But just a month later, Bitmine is the world's largest Ethereum treasury company, with holdings worth $2.1 billion at the time of this writing (July 28). Lee ultimately wants Bitmine to hold 5% of the total Ethereum supply, which would be more than $20 billion at current market prices.
The bet on Ethereum has worked out well so far. It's up 53% since June 30, much more than Bitcoin's 10% returns during the same time frame. And Lee, who is famously bullish on crypto, believes Ethereum could go even higher.
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Why Tom Lee is betting on Ethereum
In an interview with CNBC, Lee talked about what led to Bitmine's position in Ethereum. The cryptocurrency and financial industries, once polar opposites, are becoming more closely connected, driven in part by the growth of stablecoins.
Stablecoins are crypto tokens designed to maintain the same value as another asset, often a fiat currency. For example, the largest stablecoins, Tether and USDC, are both pegged 1-for-1 to the U.S. dollar.
The stablecoin market is worth more than $260 billion, up from $120 billion 18 months ago. British bank Standard Chartered projects that number could rise to $2 trillion by 2028, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agrees that could happen with legislative support. With the U.S. recently passing the Genius Act, a landmark piece of crypto legislation that regulates stablecoins, and several financial companies starting their own stablecoins, it's likely that the market will continue to grow.
That's good news for Ethereum, because it's the most popular blockchain platform for stablecoins. There's about $133 billion in stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain, accounting for a bit more than 50% of the entire market. Usage of those stablecoins contributes substantially to Ethereum's fee revenue. During the past year, it has made $6.4 billion in fees from Tether and $1.9 billion from Circle, the company that issues USDC.
Ethereum also seems to be the blockchain of choice for financial institutions getting into the stablecoin business. PayPal launched its stablecoin, PayPal USD, on Ethereum. J.P. Morgan also chose Ethereum for a pilot of its own stablecoin, J.P. Morgan Deposit Token.
Lee says that Ethereum is "dramatically undervalued"
Lee believes in Ethereum's long-term value as a blockchain platform -- and he doesn't think that the current price accurately reflects that value. Talking about this last week, he said, "Our belief is that Ethereum is dramatically undervalued. So acquiring an asset that can appreciate by 10 times or more is a really good use of treasury."
CRYPTO: ETH
Key Data Points
He has also mentioned price targets, based on Fundstrat analysis. When Ethereum was trading at about $3,500 on July 19, Lee said that $4,000 was a realistic near-term target by the end of the month. We're not too far off, with Ethereum at $3,800. He also mentioned that Ethereum could reach $10,000 to $15,000 by the end of the year.
A price of $10,000 to $15,000 would mean Ethereum had gained between 160% and 300%. That would put its market cap between $1.2 trillion and $1.8 trillion. While it's a lofty projection, it's certainly possible for a cryptocurrency on a hot streak. For example, Bitcoin added $1 trillion to its market cap in the span of about three months last year.
Should you invest in Ethereum?
Ethereum could certainly continue to grow and potentially meet Lee's ambitious expectations. It's the most widely adopted blockchain platform. Ethereum ETFs inflows are ramping up and just hit $7.8 billion on the year. The success of Bitmine could also lead to a rise in Ethereum treasury companies, similar to how Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) led to more Bitcoin treasury companies.
However, Ethereum also faces competition from other blockchain platforms, including Solana, Tron, and Cardano. In addition, the stablecoin market might not grow as quickly as many are expecting. J.P. Morgan doesn't agree with estimates of a $2 trillion stablecoin market by 2028, instead projecting that it will reach $500 billion.
I'm cautiously optimistic about Ethereum's future, based on how widely used it is, and I have it in my own crypto portfolio. If you're going to invest, remember that Ethereum and cryptocurrency in general is highly volatile. Only invest money you can afford to lose, and be ready for dramatic price fluctuations.
