The Rise of Ethereum and the Era of Tokenization: A View from BitMine CEO
Date: 2025-12-04 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
At the Binance Blockchain Week 2025 conference in Dubai, Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine CEO Tom Lee presented his vision for the future of Ethereum, stating that the ecosystem is on the cusp of massive change. He believes that Ethereum's blockchain has the potential to become the technological foundation for a new financial reality, in which the tokenization of real-world assets will play a key role.
Lee drew a historical parallel, comparing Ethereum's current stage of development to the events of 1971, when the United States abandoned the dollar's peg to gold. This decision, known as the "Nixon Shock," completely transformed the global financial system and laid the foundations for modern monetary circulation. Despite the economic difficulties of that period, the reforms prevented a deeper crisis. According to Lee, Ethereum is currently at a similar turning point, only this time in the digital economy.
The expert cites the tokenization of real-world assets as a key driver of future growth. This involves transferring rights to real estate, commodities, precious metals, and other traditional instruments into a blockchain environment. This approach, he believes, has the potential to radically simplify transactions, increase transparency, and expand investor access to previously closed markets. Lee is confident that the potential for implementing such solutions is far from exhausted and could grow hundreds of times over the long term.
These statements echo his recent interview with Binance, where he noted that the fall in cryptocurrency prices does not reflect the true value of the technology. At the time, Lee emphasized that stablecoins, essentially tokenized dollars, have already opened a new chapter in the development of the ecosystem. He also noted interest from companies such as BlackRock and Robinhood, which are viewing blockchain as the infrastructure for future financial services.
In his speech, Lee also touched on macroeconomic trends. He noted that gold, copper, and a number of other assets have broken out of their usual four-year cycles. He also noted that Bitcoin is undergoing a similar transformation, increasingly being embraced by institutional investors as a fully-fledged financial instrument. This, the expert believes, could prolong the current growth phase in the markets longer than many analysts expect.
BitMine's position deserves special attention. The company remains the largest corporate holder of Ethereum and, on December 3, 2025, increased its portfolio by another $150 million, according to Arkham Intelligence. Lee views this move as a strategic bet on the long-term development of the ecosystem.
At the same time, the expert adjusted his own expectations for Bitcoin. While he previously envisioned the asset rising to $200,000–$250,000 by the end of 2025, he now considers a firm consolidation above $100,000 more realistic. Despite this, his overall sentiment toward the crypto market remains cautiously optimistic, and he continues to call Ethereum a key element of the future digital financial system.
