Tom Lee, chairman of bitcoin treasury company Bitmine, said historical crypto bull cycles have often seen the ETH/BTC ratio rise as Ethereum usage grows relative to Bitcoin, according to PRNewswire. He pointed to NFTs in 2020–2021 and stablecoins in 2025 as major catalysts that helped expand Ethereum adoption in prior periods. Looking ahead, Lee said the next cycle could be driven by Wall Street putting tokenized assets on blockchain rails and by Agentic AI making greater use of blockchains, both of which he said may push the ETH/BTC ratio higher.
Lee also said ETH has been the best-performing macro asset since the third quarter of 2026 and had outperformed the S&P 500 by 5,430 basis points as of last Friday. Since June 30, he said the top three performing assets have been ETH, BTC and SOL. In his view, crypto assets’ outsized gains versus other macro assets so far in the third quarter could draw more institutional allocations. He added that the final months of 2026 may benefit from several positive catalysts, including a mid-September vote on the CLARITY Act, renewed buying by South Korean investors shifting from AI stocks into crypto, and what he described as a four-year cycle that may bottom in the coming weeks.
Tom Lee, chairman of bitcoin treasury company Bitmine, said historical crypto bull markets have typically seen the ETH/BTC ratio rise as Ethereum usage increases relative to Bitcoin, according to PRNewswire.
He cited NFTs in 2020–2021 and stablecoins in 2025 as two important catalysts that helped drive growth in Ethereum usage.
What Lee sees driving the next cycle
Lee said the next cycle could be supported by Wall Street tokenizing assets and deploying them on blockchains, as well as by Agentic AI using blockchains more actively. He said those trends may push the ETH/BTC ratio higher.
ETH and crypto asset performance
Lee also said ETH has been the best-performing macro asset since the third quarter of 2026. As of last Friday, it had outperformed the S&P 500 by 5,430 basis points.
Since June 30, he said the three best-performing assets have been ETH, BTC and SOL. He added that crypto assets’ notable outperformance versus other macro assets so far in the third quarter could attract increased institutional allocation to the sector.
Catalysts Lee highlighted for late 2026
Lee said the crypto market faces several positive catalysts in the final months of 2026, including an expected mid-September vote on the CLARITY Act, renewed buying from South Korean investors who are shifting from AI stocks back into crypto, and what he described as a four-year cycle that may bottom in the coming weeks.
He said those factors could help set the stage for large-scale institutional inflows in the final months of 2026.
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