Tom Lee: The crypto bear market is nearing its end, and Ethereum continues to benefit from two major positive narratives

According to PR Newswire, Bitmine Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee stated, "We are seeing more and more signs that the mini crypto winter is coming to an end."

With the downside risks of the US-Iran war diminishing, ETH has rebounded 41% from its low in early February. Since the outbreak of the war, ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 index by 2,280 basis points and remains the best-performing asset globally (excluding oil prices). Ethereum continues to benefit from two major positive narratives, including Wall Street's asset tokenization on the blockchain and the increasing need for public, neutral blockchains by proxy AI systems.

In our view, it is significant that ETH has become the best wartime store of value and that ETH has led the market since the war began. Although many believe the crypto winter may last until the fall of 2026, our perspective remains that the crypto winter is nearing its end.

Since 2015, every major crypto winter has coincided with a stock market pullback of at least 20%. In fact, the crypto pullback in 2025 occurred simultaneously with a 20% drop in the S&P 500 index. However, in 2026, the stock market pullback was more moderate, at only -8%.