Tom Lee Calls Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Bottom, Claims Crypto Winter Is ‘Close To Ending’ as Wall Street Backs Bitmine

Kurt Robson

Mon, February 16, 2026 at 7:57 PM GMT+9 4 min read

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BTC-USD

-1.52%

ETH-USD

-0.68%

BLK

+1.50%

Key Takeaways

Tom Lee says crypto winter is nearly over, calling price target bottoms for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Skepticism remains after missed price targets.

Wall Street has continued backing BitMine.

Tom Lee has claimed that Bitcoin (BTC ) and Ethereum (ETH) are close to finding a bottom after months of declines, arguing the current crypto winter is “near the end” even as skepticism grows following a series of missed calls earlier this year.

The comments come as institutional investors have increased exposure to BitMine, with BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest snapping up millions of shares in the Ethereum treasury.

Tom Lee Bottom Calls Ethereum and Bitcoin

Speaking in an interview with Farokh, Lee said deteriorating sentiment and weak price action suggest the market is in its final phase of capitulation.

“I mean, we should be pretty close, because sentiment is terrible. The price action’s been bad,” Lee said.

Lee cited technical analysis from market strategist Tom DeMark, who has projected that Bitcoin will fall toward $60,000 and that Ethereum will bottom around $1,890 after failing to hold support near $2,400.

Lee said Ethereum had effectively reached that target and may require “one more undercut” before making a lasting low.

He added that crypto’s downturn could end by April at the latest.

“So I think we’re almost through the winter,” he said.

Earlier Misses Cause Tom Lee Scepticism

Lee’s renewed bottom call comes after a volatile start to the year for digital assets.

Crypto markets have struggled since the fourth quarter, with Ethereum and Bitcoin down 60% and 45% from their all-time highs, respectively.

The Fundstrat co-founder has come under fire this year for making high-profile bullish projections on Bitcoin and Ethereum that did not materialize.

In early March 2025, he claimed Bitcoin could do “better than $150,000” by year-end, later raising that to “easily” reach $200,000.

Meanwhile, he also called for Ethereum to reach between $7,000 and $9,000 by the end of January.

Neither of these forecasts materialized by a wide margin, prompting a flurry of backlash on social media.

“I think a lot of people would say Tom Lee has lost any credibility, especially calling a bottom,” one X user wrote.

Why Is Crypto Lagging Behind Gold?

Lee also addressed why Bitcoin and Ethereum have struggled even as gold and other risk assets rallied against the U.S. dollar.

He claimed gold’s surge has created a “FOMO” effect that pulled capital away from digital assets, particularly as precious metals gained strength across the board.

“Gold now… has gotten so big,” Lee said, arguing that its scale has become difficult for many investors to appreciate fully.

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Lee said the metal’s size also means its daily swings can dwarf crypto markets.

He added that Fundstrat had identified five main drivers behind gold’s rally, but argued that two of those forces were negative for crypto.

He said easing monetary policy, geopolitical uncertainty and a weaker dollar typically support both gold and digital assets.

However, he said the two remaining factors, momentum-driven buying in metals and broader fear that the global monetary system itself is breaking down, could push investors toward gold at crypto’s expense.

“If the monetary system is being questioned outright… that’s really bad for crypto,” Lee said.

Institutional Backing for Bitmine

Lee’s comments come as institutional investors have heavily increased exposure to BitMine, the Ethereum-focused treasury company he chairs.

BlackRock boosted its stake in BitMine by approximately 166% to $246 million at the end of 2025, according to SEC files.

Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest also added over 200,000 shares across three exchange-traded funds in recent days.

The accumulation by major asset managers signals continued Wall Street interest in Ethereum-focused strategies, even as crypto prices remain under pressure.

In posts on X, Lee previously pointed to what he described as growing institutional validation of Ethereum’s role in financial infrastructure.

In December, he noted that Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, had launched a tokenized fund on the Ethereum blockchain.

“The list of institutions building on Ethereum is the venerable and elite of Wall Street,” Lee wrote.

The post Tom Lee Calls Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Bottom, Claims Crypto Winter Is ‘Close To Ending’ as Wall Street Backs Bitmine appeared first on ccn.com.

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