The price of Ethereum, the world’s second most capitalized cryptocurrency, is expected to reach $4,000 in the short term and $15,000 in the medium term, according to Tom Lee, Fundstrat researcher and CEO of Bitmine Immersion Technologies. Lee is confident in his forecast, highlighting Ethereum’s recent performance and strong fundamentals. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $3,800. The asset has climbed 3.82% in the past 24 hours, 25.23% in the last seven days, and more than 50% over the past month, according to CoinMarketCap. Lee’s prediction is based on a model developed by his colleague Sean Farrell, which compares Ethereum to prominent crypto industry companies like Circle. Using EBITDA-based valuation multiples, Farrell estimates that Ethereum’s potential market value could allow its price to reach $15,000. Fundstrat researchers are convinced that leading blockchains such as Ethereum form the foundation for entire crypto ecosystems and therefore warrant higher valuations. Lee draws a parallel with software companies, noting that technology providers often command much higher multiples than mass-market firms. Lee also cites a technical analysis by Mark Newton, Fundstrat’s head of technical strategy, who sees Ethereum potentially climbing to $4,000 by the end of July. However, Lee views this as only a short-term target. Given Ethereum’s current adoption rate and rising valuation, he believes the $10,000–$15,000 range is achievable by the end of the year—or possibly sooner. Earlier this month, in an interview with CNBC, Tom Lee called Ethereum Wall Street’s preferred choice for blockchain infrastructure. He highlighted that major initiatives by JPMorgan and Robinhood—including the JPMD token and the Tokenization Initiative—are both built on the Ethereum network. Lee is also confident in the rapid growth of the RWA (Real World Assets) sector, especially during the current stablecoin boom. Whale Demand Surges Ethereum’s rapid rise is happening alongside increased capital inflows into U.S. spot ETFs and growing interest in corporate reserves. Data shows “strategy flagships” Bitmine Immersion Tech and SharpLink Gaming have boosted their ether holdings by 84% and 59% respectively, bringing their combined stash close to 600,000 ETH (worth over $2.2 billion). Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation’s holdings have declined by 7.68%. Joseph Lubin, Chair of the Board at SharpLink and Ethereum co-founder, announced a major uptick in competition among major ETH holders. “The game is on,” Lubin emphasized. Net inflows into U.S. spot ETH-ETFs exceeded $2 billion last week—a record high, marking the longest positive streak for these funds at 11 days in a row. The total assets managed by ether-based ETFs have now surpassed $18 billion, with cumulative inflows since the launch of these instruments last summer reaching $7.49 billion. Some notable investors, or “whales,” are also entering the scene. According to on-chain analyst EmberCN, one whale purchased about $50 million worth of ETH over the weekend at an average price of $3,714. Researcher Ali Martinez further noted that major players acquired more than 500,000 ETH in just two weeks. Short Squeeze on the Horizon Analyst Crypto Banter has warned that if Ethereum hits $4,000, short positions exceeding $330 million could be liquidated. This potential cascade of liquidations, known as a short squeeze, could further accelerate Ethereum’s price rise, as traders with short positions are forced to buy back the asset—fueling increased demand and price momentum. Is Altcoin Season Here? For some analysts, Ethereum’s strong performance signals a shift in the broader crypto market sentiment. The “Altseason Index” has continued to climb, recently reaching 59 out of 100—up from 34 a week ago and 16 last month. Its all-time high was 83 in early December 2024. Trader Pentoshi highlighted that Bitcoin recently experienced its largest one-week decline in four years, suggesting that capital is rotating into Ethereum. He believes altcoin gains are currently driven more by fear of missing out (FOMO) than by fundamentals. Analyst Benjamin Cohen noted that while most altcoins are still lagging behind ETH, Ethereum itself is behaving like Bitcoin did in previous cycles, pulling a disproportionate share of market flows and establishing itself as a lower-risk asset in the altcoin space.
