Tom Lee says the "Mini Crypto Winter" is over, and Ethereum is expected to rise above $60k

Bitmine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee stated on Wednesday that the recent downturn in cryptocurrencies is a "mini crypto winter," and it may be nearing its end.
He made these comments shortly after the company disclosed a quarterly loss of several billion dollars, primarily related to unrealized impairments on its Ethereum holdings.
In his keynote speech at the 2026 Paris Blockchain Week, Lee said that due to the war between the U.S. and Israel against Iran, the stock market has bottomed out, and Ethereum (ETH) will emerge from its "massive consolidation" driven by tokenization and proxy AI projects related to smart contract networks.
Lee believes the stock market has bottomed out, which has driven what he calls an "abnormal" rebound in the crypto market, marking the first time the crypto market has not synchronized with a broader stock market bear trend.
"Stock markets usually bottom out on bad news. We've experienced a lot of bad news," Lee said, citing historical cases of stock market bottoms following wars.
He also stated that if his market assessment is correct, Ethereum "may be heading toward $60,000," and later added that, based on Ethereum's long-term value being about a quarter of Bitcoin (BTC), $62,000 in the coming years would be a fair value scenario.
His comments come amid a broader crypto market correction.
According to Bitminetracker data, since October 2025, Ethereum's price has fallen 43%, currently around $2,327 at the time of writing, significantly below Bitmine's average cost basis of $3,660.
Tom Lee, co-founder, delivered the keynote speech at Paris Blockchain Week 2026.
Bitmine reports $3.8 billion quarterly loss due to Ethereum holdings
Lee's remarks also follow a Tuesday filing by Bitmine with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing shows that the company recorded a $3.82 billion loss in the first quarter of this year due to its Ethereum holdings.
This figure was mainly driven by unrealized losses on the company's crypto assets, which exceeded $3.78 billion.
Bitmine also reported revenue of $11 million, of which $10.2 million came from ETH staking.
Despite the ongoing losses, Bitmine announced on Monday that it bought 71,524 Ethereum, and the company now holds about 4.04% of the total Ethereum supply.
The latest round of accumulation occurred shortly after Bitmine listed on the New York Stock Exchange on April 9, having previously upgraded from NYSE American.
In the past 30 days, Bitmine and Exodus Movement are the only two publicly disclosed Ethereum treasury companies holding Ethereum investments.
According to EthReserveStrategicEthReserve data, Bitmine is the largest Ethereum holder among publicly listed companies, currently holding 4.6 million ETH valued at over $10 billion;
SharpLink Gaming ranks second, holding 863k ETH worth $1.89 billion.