On June 2 at the Proof of Talk 2026 conference held at the Louvre in Paris, Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine (NYSE: BMNR) — the largest publicly traded corporate treasury of Ethereum — delivered a keynote titled "Crypto Spring: ETH is the Future of Money." With Bitcoin having slipped below $66,000 and Ethereum down to $1,820, Lee insisted that the prevailing bearish sentiment marks the bottom for the market. He asserted that as artificial intelligence and tokenization drive a fundamental reshaping of financial infrastructure, ETH could ultimately reach a price of $250,000. At the time of his speech, BitMine's ETH position carried an unrealized loss of approximately $8.86 billion.
Five Macro Catalysts Confirming Crypto Spring
Lee laid out five structural reasons why he believes crypto spring has arrived. First, he noted that oil prices — currently exhibiting the highest negative correlation with Ethereum in history — are the key driver of inflation. Once the Iran War ends, the fear premium will vanish and oil could slump to $40 per barrel, easing central bank hawkishness and providing a significant tailwind for ETH. Second, the Clarity Act, which would deliver a clear regulatory framework for crypto in the U.S., has a market-implied probability of only 56%, but Lee, having spoken with policymakers, considers the actual chances far higher. Third, the White House’s stance is favorable to Bitcoin and crypto, particularly on stablecoins. Fourth, newly appointed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is a vocal Bitcoin supporter. Fifth, U.S. equities enjoy a demographic tailwind: as the population of 30-50 year olds grows, driven by millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, economic growth will exceed trend, potentially taking the S&P 500 to 15,000–18,000 by the end of the decade.
AI and Tokenization: The Case for Ethereum as Money
Lee argued that the market has forgotten that “crypto is the future of money.” He traced the milestones since ChatGPT's launch in 2023: agentic AI systems can now operate websites, Tesla’s Optimus robot has gained advanced dexterity, Ukraine is manufacturing drones at industrial scale, OpenAI solved an 80-year-old problem, and Figure AI deployed a robot capable of building in warehouses. With robots set to dominate internet traffic, blockchain is far more effective than traditional systems for identity verification, authentication, and payment, meaning the next wave of AI infrastructure will be built on crypto.
The equity market, he explained, is passing through a chain of AI beneficiaries: first semiconductors, then storage, then big tech, and now software. Software stocks, which have historically moved in lockstep with Ethereum, are already parabolic. Lee expects ETH to catch up within weeks. On tokenization, stablecoin transaction volumes have already surpassed Visa, and the market for tokenized securities could reach $300 trillion — encompassing real estate, fixed income, equities, and derivatives. Since crypto asset prices are highly correlated with the quantity of tokenized assets, and only a handful of blockchains can operate at scale, he sees crypto technology replacing many of the world’s most profitable banks. He cited Jane Street, which made $400 billion with just 3,000 employees, nearly matching JPMorgan, and Tether, with only 300 employees, earning $150 billion. Lee predicts that within a decade, five of the top ten global financial institutions will be crypto-native. Smart contract platforms will become monetized units of value, and Standard Chartered’s recent report analogizing Ethereum to early Amazon points to a roughly 50x upside.
Ethereum Foundation Diminishing, Treasuries Rising
Lee highlighted that the Ethereum Foundation’s role is shrinking. It once controlled 17% of the supply; by 2020 that fell to 1%, last year to 0.3%, and today it holds only 100,000 ETH, or 0.1% of the total. With a 5% yield, that would support less than $10 million in annual grants. In contrast, public company treasuries (BitMine, Sharplink, etc.) now hold 7% of ETH supply, generating some $5 billion in staking rewards per year — funds that can be channeled back into ecosystem development. Lee invoked precedents like the CTIA in mobile communications, the Semiconductor Industry Association, and the National Association of Broadcasters, arguing that a $240 billion network with 1,500 nodes across 89 countries and 15,000 developers is too vast to be coordinated by a single foundation. Corporate validators, he said, will assume the mantle of key network managers.
BitMine’s Ecosystem Moves and Treasury Valuation
As the largest ETH corporate treasury, BitMine has made a series of strategic moves during the crypto winter. It invested in Eightco (ticker ORBS), the largest public holder of Worldcoin, which Sam Altman’s project addresses identity verification in a robot-driven world. ORBS’ balance sheet shows 28% in OpenAI, 8% in MrBeast, 8% in ETH, and 34% cash. A peer, Found Fund Rise (VCX), trades at 13x net asset value; applied to ORBS, its $1 stock would be worth roughly $15. BitMine also launched MAVAN, the world’s largest single staking operator, managing ~$14 billion in assets across Ethereum, Solana, Hyperliquid, and other chains. Its own staked ETH generates about $1 million in rewards daily — meaning that during Lee’s 30-minute speech, nearly $200,000 in staking rewards had accrued.
BitMine also invested in MrBeast, the world’s top content creator, whose business now exceeds $1 billion in revenue with 50% growth. Through the acquisition of Step Financial, MrBeast aims to become the next Robinhood or SoFi for the Gen Z and Gen Alpha generations. Lee emphasized that in the next 20 years, millennials and Gen Z will inherit $50–60 trillion in wealth, fueling the rise of next-generation financial giants. Meanwhile, BitMine itself uplisted to the NYSE and last week met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the Russell 1000 Index, with the effective date of June 26. The Russell 1000 is tracked by over $4 trillion in benchmarked funds; BitMine currently has only 25 institutional holders, leaving approximately 1,575 active managers who will decide whether to take positions.
ETH Price Projections and Treasury Stock Asymmetry
On ETH accumulation, BitMine has reached 4.5% of supply (roughly 5.4 million ETH) and could touch 5% by late June, though the company plans to slow purchases until a decision is made on whether to exceed the threshold. Lee demonstrated the asymmetry of treasury stocks: in the second half of last year, ETH rose 22% but BitMine soared 500%; this year, amid ETH’s decline, BitMine has also held up better on a relative basis.
Lee concluded with a quantitative scenario: at an ETH price of $22,000, BitMine shares would be worth $500; at $250,000 ETH, the stock would hit $5,000. With shares currently around $18, he frames the company as “deeply undervalued, generating $1 million in daily cash flow, and strategically positioned across AI and tokenization — a true crypto treasury.”