Ethereum to Overtake Bitcoin? BitMEX’s Tom Lee Predicts Wall Street-Style Flip
BitMEX chairman Tom Lee believes Ethereum might at some point surpass Bitcoin’s market dominance, drawing a comparability to how U.S. equities overtook gold after the United States deserted the gold normal in 1971.
Speaking in an interview with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood on Thursday, Lee mentioned, “Ethereum might flip Bitcoin comparable to how Wall Street and equities flipped gold post-’71.”
Currently, Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands at roughly $2.17 trillion, about 4.6 occasions bigger than Ethereum’s $476.33 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
But Lee, who additionally oversees BitMine’s Ethereum accumulation technique, argues that Ethereum’s long-term potential mirrors the rise of the U.S. greenback after 1971, when it grew to become a “totally artificial” fiat forex.
Tom Lee Compares Ethereum’s Rise to Post-Gold-Standard Dollar Dominance
Lee’s argument attracts on historic parallels. When President Richard Nixon ended dollar-gold convertibility in 1971, gold initially surged, however over time, U.S. equities exploded in worth, their market capitalization dwarfing gold’s.
Gold remained finite and helpful, however shares, which symbolize innovation, productiveness, and enlargement, grew to become the expansion engine of the economic system.
Lee’s argument suggests the identical dynamic might play out in crypto. Bitcoin, like gold, is scarce and dependable however essentially inert.
Ethereum, in contrast, capabilities as a productive digital ecosystem powering sensible contracts, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized belongings, and digital id infrastructure, “the blockchain spine of a tokenized Wall Street,” as Lee put it.
“When the U.S. left the gold normal, the speedy beneficiary was gold,” Lee mentioned. “But Wall Street created merchandise that made the greenback dominant. Today, equities’ market cap is $40 trillion, whereas gold’s is $2 trillion.”
He added that Ethereum’s position in tokenizing real-world belongings, driving decentralized functions, and enabling on-chain finance might permit it to mirror that very same rise. “As every part turns into tokenized, Ethereum may very well be the monetary substrate of the digital economic system,” Lee mentioned.
Signs of an Ethereum Power Shift: Market Leaders Hint at Looming Flippening as ETH Outpaces Bitcoin
Ethereum’s fundamentals already assist the thesis. Ethereum’s value climbed 6.6% prior to now 24 hours to $3,731.69, whereas Bitcoin rose 5.1% to $104,737.
The two largest cryptocurrencies proceed to lead the market, however the dialogue over whether or not Ethereum might finally “flip” Bitcoin’s market capitalization, an idea lengthy referred to because the “flippening,” has resurfaced amongst business leaders.
In August, Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin predicted that Ethereum could surge “by 100 times” and overtake Bitcoin because the dominant financial base.
Lubin mentioned that Wall Street’s rising integration of decentralized expertise might propel Ethereum’s worth as monetary establishments undertake staking, validator nodes, and Layer-2 options to substitute outdated techniques.
Lee additionally echoed this view in a separate CNBC look, calling Ethereum’s sensible contracts “the following layer of the web.”
Notably, the community often processes extra transactions than Bitcoin, powers nearly all of DeFi and NFT exercise, and continues to entice institutional integration by tokenized bonds, funds, and company belongings.
Meanwhile, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” creator Robert Kiyosaki added weight to Ethereum’s narrative, describing it as each a retailer of worth and an industrial asset.
“Today, I imagine silver and Ethereum are the most effective as a result of they’re shops of worth, however extra importantly, they’re utilized in business,” he mentioned, calling each belongings “scorching, scorching, scorching” for the following cycle of wealth preservation.
Tom Lee predicts Ethereum rally to $5,500 quickly, $12,000 by year-end as BitMine accumulates $7.65B treasury. #Ethereum #Rallyhttps://t.co/HV8oQB807D
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) August 27, 2025
Lee recently predicted that Ethereum could rally to $5,500 within the close to time period, with a year-end goal of $12,000.
While Bitcoin retains the sting in market worth and model recognition, Ethereum’s increasing utility and community exercise are fueling hypothesis {that a} “flippening” might happen inside the subsequent cycle.
Lee’s comparability reframes the rivalry not as a contest of ideology, however of operate. “Gold will at all times have worth,” an analyst mentioned. “But the way forward for finance was constructed on equities, and the way forward for blockchain could also be constructed on Ethereum.”
Could Ethereum Ever Reach Bitcoin’s Market Value? Here’s What It Would Take
Now, to reply the query, Ethereum would want to rise by roughly 4.6 occasions its present value to match Bitcoin’s market capitalization, in accordance to market information analyzed on October 17.
With 120.7 million ETH in circulation versus 19.9 million BTC, Ethereum’s bigger provide explains its decrease per-unit value.
To match Bitcoin’s market cap, Ethereum would want to commerce round $17,379 per ETH, a stage that will mark one of many largest value surges in its historical past.
Analysts typically view market capitalization as a fairer comparability than value alone. Bitcoin’s smaller provide helps its greater valuation per coin, whereas Ethereum’s power lies in its various ecosystem, powering smart contracts, decentralized finance (DeFi), and tokenized assets that drive real-world use.
Historically, Ethereum has at occasions outpaced Bitcoin in efficiency. Historical information exhibits that throughout sure five-year spans, Ethereum’s common annualized return reached 60.4%, barely forward of Bitcoin’s 59.1%.
For Ethereum to shut the market-cap hole, it will want years of sustained outperformance.
At a 20% annual progress fee, parity might take about 8.4 years; at 30%, roughly six years; and at 50%, underneath 4 years, assuming Bitcoin’s market worth stays fixed, an unlikely state of affairs.
Nearly a decade since launch, Ethereum instructions about 21% of Bitcoin’s market dimension.
Its continued enlargement and institutional adoption hold it the strongest challenger to Bitcoin’s dominance, although the long-awaited “flippening” stays a distant, theoretical milestone.
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