Tom Lee’s Bold Prediction: Why Ethereum Could Still Surpass Bitcoin in the Crypto Race

Forget store of value—Ethereum's building the digital economy. While Bitcoin hoards the spotlight as digital gold, Ethereum's ecosystem is quietly constructing the rails for everything from decentralized finance to digital ownership. It's the difference between owning a vault and owning the bank—and the bank's looking pretty busy.

The Smart Contract Edge

Bitcoin's script is limited by design—secure, slow, and singular in purpose. Ethereum flipped the script. Its Turing-complete virtual machine birthed an entire industry of decentralized applications. Think of it as the App Store moment for blockchain, where developers, not just speculators, drive the network's value. That utility creates a gravitational pull Bitcoin can't match on functionality alone.

Network Effects vs. Monetary Policy

Bitcoin's scarcity is its gospel—21 million coins, period. Ethereum's value proposition is more dynamic. Its shift to proof-of-stake slashed energy use by 99.95% and turned ETH into a productive, yield-generating asset. Validators earn rewards; stakers earn a share. It's creating an economic flywheel where using the network and securing it become the same action. Meanwhile, Bitcoin maximalists are still debating taproot upgrades over artisanal coffee.

The Institutional Tug-of-War

Wall Street loves Bitcoin ETFs—it's a simple narrative they can sell. But behind closed doors, the real builders are betting on Ethereum. Its programmable nature makes it the backbone for tokenized real-world assets, from Treasury bonds to real estate. The financial old guard might buy Bitcoin, but they'll eventually run their future services on Ethereum. It's the classic finance move: publicly praise the trophy asset, while quietly investing in the infrastructure that will replace you.

Could Ethereum's market cap flip Bitcoin's? It's less about price charts and more about whose vision of the future wins. Bitcoin offers a pristine digital asset—Ethereum offers the world computer to manage everything else. In the long game, utility tends to eclipse dogma. Just ask the bankers now paying for blockchain solutions they mocked five years ago.

Lee had claimed Ethereum could surpass Bitcoin

Lee stated that the overall crypto market will continue to hold up well for the next five to ten years, even as Bitcoin continues to work through its “gold envy” phase and the fallout from liquidation. Next year, he predicts, the top crypto asset will bounce back and reach an all-time high of $200,000, while Ethereum may peak at $ 9,000.

Earlier this month, in November, the Fundstrat founder had argued that Ethereum would eventually dominate the cryptocurrency space, overtaking prominent names such as Bitcoin. He claimed the network’s extensive developer ecosystem and technical resilience set it apart structurally. He added, “I think it’s a true robust community with actual known values, and it’s a neutral blockchain with 100% uptime.”

Even then, he maintained that institutional tokenization would contribute to the growth of the network, the claim being that if big institutions hold back from rolling out round-the-clock tokenized equity offerings into the network, others will catch up without delay. At the time, he also said that the token could range between “$7,000–$9,000” by the end of January 2026, blaming the asset’s then decline on the October 10 crypto market crash.

Crypto analyst Christopher Perkins had supported Lee’s remarks, affirming that more institutions are turning to the network and tokenisation. He also said most firms will likely prioritize risk management, uptime, and security for their blockchain of use.

Sharplink’s Chalom says Ethereum’s TVL could increase ten times in 2026

On Friday, Sharplink’s co-CEO, Joseph Chalom, also shared a more bullish outlook on Ethereum, predicting that its total value locked will grow tenfold in 2026, following the growth of institutions and applications that join the pool. Typically, a rise in TVL indicates increased network participation and hints at potential price implications. 

Currently, the network’s TVL stands at approximately $68 billion, and with about 797,704 ETH holdings, Sharplink Gaming now ranks as the second-largest public ethereum treasury firm.

Chalom also projects that the stablecoin market will reach $500 billion by the end of next year. He asserted that the crypto community can expect an increasing use of global stablecoins, including cross-border remittances, retail payments, and institutional transactions, with Ethereum becoming the fundamental settlement layer for value movement. Furthermore, he anticipates that more large players will enter the market next year.

He added that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) could surpass $300 billion by 2026, largely due to heightened engagement from major asset managers and banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton, and BlackRock. 

Moreover, he said sovereign wealth funds will increase their ETH holdings by five to ten times as tokenisation increases, and Ethereum remains the trust foundation for most blockchain innovation. Most wealth funds favour the network for its “ubiquity and time-tested nature,” he contended. He also believes more onchain AI agents and prediction markets will be integrated on mainstream platforms, increasing network activity and TVL in 2026.

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