Can Ethereum Do to Bitcoin What Wall Street Once Did to Gold?

Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and chairman of BitMine Technologies, predicts that Ethereum may “flip” Bitcoin — simply as Wall Street outgrew gold’s function within the trendy monetary system.

The government additionally forecasted that ETH may attain $60,000 by 2030, representing an roughly 1,510% improve from its present value of $3,727.

Why Ethereum Could Challenge Bitcoin’s Market Leadership

In an interview with ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood and Brett Winton on Thursday, Lee drew a historic parallel to clarify why he believes Ethereum could eventually overtake Bitcoin in market worth. He pointed to 1971, when the United States deserted the gold commonplace. This transfer initially despatched gold prices higher as traders sought safety in a tangible asset.

Nonetheless, it was Wall Street’s innovation — the creation of cash market funds, mortgage-backed securities, and different monetary devices — that in the end reshaped international markets and cemented the greenback’s dominance. Over time, equities and monetary merchandise constructed across the greenback grew to overshadow gold, which remained helpful however static.

“In 1971, the greenback grew to become absolutely artificial as a result of it was now not backed by something, and so there was a danger that the world would go off the greenback commonplace. So in stepped Wall Street to create merchandise to propagate the way forward for Wall Street. Dollar dominance by the top of that interval went from 27% of GDP phrases to 57% of central financial institution reserves and 80% of economic transaction quotes,” Lee detailed.

Lee prompt {that a} related dynamic is now unfolding in crypto. He famous Bitcoin is the digital gold — a pristine retailer of worth. Meanwhile, Ethereum represents the infrastructure the place the following wave of economic merchandise and tokenized property will probably be constructed.

“In 2025, we predict all the things is now changing into…tokenized. So as we transfer not simply {dollars} onto the blockchain, which is stablecoins, however we’ll transfer shares and actual property  greenback dominance goes to be the chance of Ethereum. So digital gold is Bitcoin. And so in that world, we imagine Ethereum may flip Bitcoin related to how Wall Street and equities flipped gold put up 71,” Lee famous

However, the chief emphasised that this stays a “working idea.” He additionally added that he stays bullish on Bitcoin, projecting a long-term honest worth between $1.5 million and $2.1 million.

Lee additionally sees ETH reaching as high as $60,000 per token by the top of the last decade. In the close to time period, he has additionally forecast $200,000 for Bitcoin and $10,000–$12,000 for Ethereum by the top of 2025, highlighting confidence in each property.

Ethereum’s Developer Surge Fuels Its “Flip” Potential

While Ethereum presently trails Bitcoin in market capitalization, it has already surpassed it in a single crucial space: developer exercise. Ethereum Foundation highlighted that 16,181 new builders joined its ecosystem between January and September 2025.

Solana followed with 11,534 builders. In addition, Bitcoin attracted 7,494 throughout the identical interval.

“By a large margin, builders new to crypto desire the Ethereum ecosystem. In 2025, Ethereum remains to be dwelling to the most important developer ecosystem of any blockchain,” the post learn.

As adoption broadens and good contract innovation continues, Ethereum’s platform dominance expands. Whether Ethereum surpasses Bitcoin in market cap stays unsure, however Lee’s forecasts and the continuing developer migration spotlight the rising perception that programmable property and DeFi will outline the following period in international finance.

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