Tom Lee Drops $62K Ethereum Target, Says Tether And Jane Street Out-Earn Wall Street's Giants

• BitMine's Tom Lee said Ethereum is exiting a five-year consolidation, with three price targets: $12,000, $22,000, and $62,000 if it becomes the world's primary payment rail and BTC reaches $250,000.
• Lee predicted $40 billion in net income for Jane Street, with 3,000 employees, and $15 billion for Tether, with 300 employees.
• He forecast that half of the world's largest banks will be native digital asset companies in 10 years.

Tom Lee of BitMine Immersion (BMNR) argued on Monday that Ethereum is emerging from a five-year consolidation that may be comparable to the massive 227 times and 54 times the move that followed its 2016 and 2020 ranges.

Ethereum is the best-performing asset since the Iran War began, Lee said in a chairman’s message, who called it a "wartime store of value." He pointed out that a $100,000 portfolio would have grown to $1.7 million with a 5% allocation to ETH since December 2016, compared with just $130,000 with no exposure.

Tom Lee Sets New Price Targets For Ethereum

To ensure Bitcoin (BTC) reaches its $250,000 fair value, Lee set three price targets for Ethereum. One, $12,000 at the 8-year average ETH/BTC ratio, $22,000 at the 2021 high ETH/BTC ratio, and $62,000 if ETH becomes the world's primary financial tool. According to Grayscale data, as real estate, fixed income, stocks, and commercial real estate move on-chain, the tokenized market could reach $300 trillion.

Lee noted that Tether will make about $15 billion this year with just 300 employees, outpacing Bank of America (BOFA), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Goldman Sachs (GS), while Jane Street is expected to make $40 billion with just 3,000 employees. "Jane Street makes more money than Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs on much smaller headcounts," said Lee.

Ethereum’s price was trading at $2,328, down 1% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ETH dropped to ‘neutral’ from the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter stayed at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

Half Of The World's Top Banks Will Go Crypto-Native In 10 Years

He predicted that within ten years, half of the world's largest financial institutions will be native digital asset companies, drawing comparisons to Tesla (TSLA) replacing traditional automakers and Amazon (AMZN)  replacing IBM. "I believe in the next 10 years, half of the largest financial institutions in the world are going to be native digital companies, native digital asset companies, many of them in crypto," said Lee.

BMNR, which currently controls 4% of the world's Ethereum supply and operates the biggest single staking operator. If ETH hits $250,000, BMNR shares could hit $5,000 at Lee's price targets. 

BMNR’s stock was up over 3% in midday trade. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BMNR remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter stayed at ‘low’ levels over the past day.

BitMine reported on Monday that it raised its Ethereum holdings to 5.2 million ETH from 5.18 million ETH after buying nearly 26,659 ETH in the past week - a sharp slowdown from its recent buying pace of more than 100,000 ETH. The slowing pace aligns with Lee’s comments that BitMine would like to slow its accumulation, though the company still plans to reach 5% of the total ETH supply sometime in 2026.

Read also: ‘The Banking Cartel Is In Full Panic Mode' — Senator Bernie Moreno, Coinbase Slam Banks' Eleventh-Hour’ Change To CLARITY Act

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