Crypto Bull Market Has Begun According to Tom Lee: Forecasts Timeline for Stronger Rally!
Tom Lee argues that the crypto bull market began at the end of June and announced that he expects a stronger rally in the final quarter of 2026. At the center of his expectations is the increase in institutional crypto investments.
In a company statement cited by The Block, BitMine Chairman Tom Lee evaluated Ethereum’s strong third-quarter performance as a harbinger of a larger move. According to Lee, institutions that turned toward AI stocks in the first part of the year allocated relatively low shares to crypto assets in their portfolios.
He bases his bull market thesis on three reasons
Lee explains the bull market, which he believes started at the end of June, with three factors: A shift back from AI investments to crypto, tokenization and AI-related use cases strengthening crypto fundamentals, and the view that the four-year cycle has concluded.
With this assessment, Lee does not attribute the rally solely to short-term price movements. He argues that developments in crypto use cases and shifts in investor preferences are also supporting the move. He views Ethereum’s strong third-quarter performance compared to other major asset classes as one of the foundations for his final-quarter expectations.
He pointed to the October-December period for a stronger rally
Lee expects institutions to significantly increase their allocation to crypto assets in the final three months of 2026. He believes the crypto weighting, which remained low earlier in the year due to the prominence of AI stocks, could change.
For this reason, he interprets Ethereum’s third-quarter rise as a precursor to a potentially stronger move in the fourth quarter. He states that the institutional demand he envisions could provide additional support to the gains made since June 30. He does not provide a specific Ethereum price target in the statement; instead, he explains his expectations based on investor demand and timing.
Lee shared these views in the weekly reserve disclosure of BitMine, where he serves as chairman. In the same statement, the company reported that it purchased 27,562 ETH in one week and that its total Ethereum holdings reached approximately 5.98 million ETH.