According to Zhitong Finance APP, Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder and head of research Tom Lee predicts that Ethereum (ETH) will trade well above $10,000 within the next 12 months, and says accelerating crypto treasury purchases and a potential wave of institutional allocation could drive a crypto cycle of unprecedented scale.

On Wednesday, Lee, who serves as chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), said during a panel discussion at Korea Blockchain Week that he is not certain whether Ethereum can realistically reach that target "by year-end," "but I think ETH will trade well above $10,000 in the next 12 months." He said he expects this to be one of the larger crypto cycles.

Arthur Hayes predicted in the same interview that Ethereum could reach $10,000 by year-end. In response, Lee said Hayes may be aiming too low, noting that Ethereum rose 50x to 200x in previous cycles.

Tom Lee said, "...For one, we want to maintain maximum exposure to ETH, because I think Arthur is in some sense being conservative, you know, Ethereum went up 50x to 200x in past cycles."

Lee illustrated the potential upside as follows: if Ethereum rises 25x from the previous cycle, it could theoretically reach around $62,000.

Crypto Treasuries May Tighten Ethereum Supply

Lee believes crypto treasury companies will play an important role in this move. He expects all digital asset treasuries (DATs) to increase buying over the next 12 to 18 months. "Ethereum DATs currently hold a combined 7% of total supply," Lee said. He said this ratio could rise to 15% in this cycle.

Bitmine is the largest Ethereum treasury, holding 6,001,302 ETH. The filing added that this equals 4.9% of Ethereum's supply. BMNR shares fell more than 0.2% in early trading. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment on BMNR over the past day remained in "bearish" territory, with discussion volume dropping from "normal" to "low."

HYPE Provides Another Treasury Accumulation Example. He cited Hyperliquid (HYPE) as an example. Lee said Hyperliquid's main treasury holds 14% of the token's supply and continues to buy. According to DefiLlama data, Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR) holds about 13.5% of HYPE's circulating supply. "What happens when they hold 50% of the supply? I mean, HYPE could go parabolic," Lee said.

Institutions May Drive a Large-Scale "Rotation"

Lee added that most institutional investors still do not hold cryptocurrencies. He said only about 2% of institutions within Fundstrat's coverage have allocations. He added that Ethereum rose about 65% in the third quarter, while the S&P 500 was essentially flat. "I think there will be a massive rotation in the fourth quarter," Lee said.

He also dismissed claims that Ethereum is being overtaken by competing blockchains. Lee added that 99% of tokenization projects being advanced by companies such as JPMorgan (JPM) and BlackRock (BLK) are based on Ethereum. He claimed that Ethereum has not lost any market share.

Ethereum is trading around $2,670, down more than 1% over the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment on ETH remained in "bearish" territory, with discussion volume over the past day at "normal." Platform data shows that Ethereum followers increased by more than 15% over the past week. ETH is down more than 10% year-to-date and down 36% over the past 12 months.