Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine, declared at WebX 2026 that Ethereum is entering an 'ETH 2.0' valuation phase, setting a long-term price target of $250,000. He compared the transition to the valuation leaps of Amazon, Nvidia, and JPMorgan from version 1.0 to 2.0.
'ETH is money' thesis gains traction
Speaking on July 13, Lee reiterated that ETH is not just a token but a foundational monetary layer for the on-chain economy. He cited four catalysts for the $250,000 target: a new era for the Ethereum Foundation, the Agentic-AI wave, Ethereum's role as a financial settlement layer, and ETH as money itself. Lee noted that market sentiment has bottomed, calling ETH the antidote to the 'wealth horror valley.' His comments came as ETH briefly dipped below $1,800 and BTC touched $63,000 on the same day.
Robinhood Chain as a real-world proof
Earlier on X, Lee highlighted that Robinhood Chain has rapidly become a phenomenon, with transaction volumes surpassing many established DEXs. Crucially, Robinhood Chain uses ETH as its native gas token, with all fees denominated in ETH and settled back to Ethereum's Layer 1 mainnet. Lee argued that this 'fee → settlement → mainchain' pathway makes the case that 'ETH is money' increasingly clear.
BitMine's expanding footprint
At WebX, Lee revealed that BitMine has led investments in two spin-offs from the Ethereum Foundation: EthLabs, focused on accelerating the 'institutional supercycle,' and Ethereum Institutional, a nonprofit driving institutional finance on-chain. BitMine now holds 5.74 million ETH, about 4.8% of total supply, valued at roughly $1.03 billion at current prices around $1,800. Lee stated goals of slowly increasing holdings to 5% of supply, continuing to fund Ethereum Foundation spin-offs and public goods, and investing in financial services and crypto unicorns.
From 'altcoin season' to monetary narrative
Lee's '1.0 → 2.0' framework redefines Ethereum's core: from a smart contract platform competing with Solana and AVAX to a universal settlement layer for on-chain finance, a payment medium for Agentic AI, and infrastructure for institutional asset tokenization. This aligns with Grayscale's recent RWA report, which named Ethereum a major winner in tokenized equities. However, the Ethereum Foundation disbanded its protocol support team in July, leaving EIP core development coordination understaffed—a transitional risk for the ETH 2.0 vision. Lee's bullish call serves as both a directional beacon and a reminder of underlying infrastructure challenges.