BitMine Chairman Tom Lee said Ether (ETH) could trade above $10,000 within 12 months, arguing that demand from institutions and corporate treasuries may reduce the cryptocurrency’s available supply.
In an interview with CoinDesk published Oct. 19, Lee was less certain that Ether would reach that price by the end of 2026. The distinction puts his price call on a longer timeline than the remaining months of this year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Oct. 19 that it would expand its JPM Coin (JPMD) dollar deposit token to Ethereum. The bank already offers JPMD to institutional clients on Base, an Ethereum layer 2 network, as EconoTimes reported in its coverage of the expansion. JPMorgan limits use of the token to approved counterparties.
Lee said BitMine had accumulated more than 6 million ETH in 15 months, with much of that buying taking place during a weaker crypto market. He estimated that companies holding ETH as a treasury asset account for about 7% of its supply. He said that share could reach 15% during the current bull cycle.
Lee forecast that treasury firms, including BitMine, would increase their purchases of cryptocurrencies over the next 12 to 18 months. He argued that retaining the tokens they acquire could reduce market supply and support the assets’ relative performance.
Share valuations also shape those companies’ buying capacity, Lee said. Firms trading above the value of their crypto holdings can raise capital to acquire more tokens, he argued. When they trade below that value, their shares offer investors exposure to the holdings at a discount.
Lee identified tokenization as another potential source of activity on Ethereum. He said public networks had attracted more liquidity than private blockchain projects and cited Ethereum’s developer community and security design as strengths.
Lee said financial institutions recommend crypto allocations of 2% to 10%, although most institutional investors still have no exposure. He cited Ether’s 65% gain in the third quarter, compared with a roughly flat S&P 500, in forecasting a fourth-quarter shift toward crypto.
