Ethereum Is Not Dead: Why Market Experts Are Still Predicting A Rise Above $10,000

Ethereum’s price has lagged behind Bitcoin at key moments, retail confidence is low, and every failed breakout has given critics another reason to argue that ETH has lost its place. However, some market experts are not buying that idea. 

One of those market experts taking the opposite side of that argument is Tom Lee. The Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman has continued to defend Ethereum’s long-term setup, with his 2026 ETH target around $12,000.

Tom Lee is one of the more vocal names in the bullish camp for Ethereum. The Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman has reportedly projected Ethereum as high as $9,000 to $12,000 by the end of 2026, placing him among the experts who believe ETH’s current weakness is temporary.

Lee made the Ethereum year-end 2026 forecast at Consensus Miami, pairing the range with a Bitcoin projection of $150,000 to $200,000 and calling the crypto winter already over. It was a statement of confidence that stood out even in a conference room full of optimists.

Lee’s company, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, holds over 5.18 million ETH valued around $12.07 billion, a position built in less than a year at an estimated cost of around $230 million per tranche each week. This accumulation trend by Bitmine has been repeatedly compared to Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation playbook, and Lee has leaned into it. 

Interestingly, the $10,000-plus Ethereum prediction is not limited to Lee. Analyst Crypto Patel offered a complementary set of drivers in a post on X, projecting an Ethereum price of around $10,000 to $15,000 this cycle. 

Another crypto analyst called Celal Kucuker also shared a bullish Ethereum outlook on X on May 9, laying out a long-term roadmap that places ETH on course for a possible move above $24,000.

Market experts are pointing to various reasons as to why Ethereum is going to break above $10,000. For instance, Crypto Patel’s prediction was built around a string of institutional developments, including BlackRock’s filing for tokenized money market funds on Ethereum, JPMorgan’s MONY fund going live on the network, and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund reaching $2.85 billion to become the largest real-world asset product on any blockchain.

Tom Lee has made a similar argument, with his Ethereum outlook based on Wall Street’s growing move into blockchain infrastructure. According to Lee, the next big move in markets won’t be led by stocks. It’ll be driven by crypto, Bitcoin and Ethereum in particular.

This is why the predictions above $10,000 are not coming from one single angle. Some experts are focused on institutional adoption, others are focused on tokenization and stablecoins, and some are reading Ethereum’s long-term chart structure as a sign that the asset still has room for a major cycle rally.