Ethereum’s price lags Bitcoin at key junctures, retail confidence is low, and each failed breakout has given critics another reason to argue that ETH has lost its place. However, some market experts do not subscribe to this idea.
One such market expert who takes the opposite view of this argument is Tom Lee. The co-founder of Fundstrat and president of BitMine continued to defend Ethereum’s long-term setup, with its ETH 2026 target around $12,000.
The $10,000 Ethereum Case Is Bigger Than a Prediction
Tom Lee is one of the more vocal the names are in the Ethereum bull camp. The Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman reportedly projects Ethereum at between $9,000 and $12,000 by the end of 2026, placing him among experts who believe ETH’s current weakness is temporary.
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Lee does it Ethereum forecast for the end of 2026 at Consensus Miami, pairing the range with a Bitcoin projection of $150,000 to $200,000 and calling the crypto winter already over. It was a statement of confidence that stood out even at a conference room full of optimists.
Lee’s company, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, holds over 5.18 million ETH valued at approximately $12.07 billion, an integrated position less than a year, at an estimated cost of around $230 million per tranche each week. This accumulation trend of Bitmine has been repeatedly compared to Bitcoin accumulation by strategy playbook, and Lee leaned into it.
Interestingly, the Ethereum prediction of over $10,000 is not limited to Lee. Crypto Analyst Patel proposed a complementary set of drivers in an article on X, projecting an Ethereum price of around $10,000 to $15,000 this cycle.
Another crypto analyst called Celal Kucuker also shared an optimism Ethereum outlook on
Why are market experts predicting Ethereum price to be above $10,000?
Market experts point to various reasons why Ethereum is going to surpass $10,000. For example, Crypto Patel’s prediction was built around a series of institutional developments, including BlackRock’s deposit of tokenized money market funds on Ethereum, JPMorgan’s MONY fund going live on the network, and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund reaching $2.85 billion to become the largest real-world asset product on any blockchain.
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Tom Lee made a similar argument, with his Ethereum outlook based on Wall Street’s growing move toward blockchain infrastructure. According to Lee, the next big move in the markets will not be led by actions. It will be driven in particular by cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This is why predictions above $10,000 do not come from just one angle. Some experts focus on institutional adoption, others on tokenization and stablecoins, and some read Ethereum Long Term Chart Structure as a sign that the asset still has room for a major cyclical rally.
Featured image of Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
