While the crypto market continues to crumble with Ethereum hitting new lows around $1,500, Bitmine owner Tom Lee delivered one of the most optimistic long-term ETH forecasts heard publicly this year at the Proof of Talk conference. No wonder — the company's balance sheet holds tens of thousands of ETH with unrealized losses in the billions of dollars.

His message is simple: the market is already in a "crypto spring," but most participants don't notice because they are too focused on short-term outflows and price charts. Lee names the end of the US–Iran conflict, passage of the CLARITY Act, a pro-crypto White House policy, a change of Fed leadership, and a recovery in the US stock market as the main drivers of the new cycle. But the most fundamental argument in his talk was technological: the next stage of AI development will be directly tied to cryptocurrency and blockchain. AI agents and robots will dominate the internet — they will need infrastructure for identification, interaction, and settlement. Lee believes Ethereum is that infrastructure.

Lee's long-term target for Ethereum is $250,000. This outlook rests on three pillars: AI, tokenization of real-world assets, and increased use of stablecoins. The volume of tokenized assets could reach $300 trillion in the future, including real estate, bonds, stocks, land, and gold — and Ethereum aims to be the main settlement network for that economy. Importantly, asset tokenization is a mainstream theme this year, so Lee's thesis is hard to disagree with.

He also touched on ecosystem governance: in his view, the Ethereum Foundation should no longer remain the primary decision-making center — private companies and corporate ETH holders will gradually assume that role.

Lee interprets current market pessimism as a classic sign of a cycle bottom: a bearish view on Bitcoin and Ethereum today, he warns, could be the mistake investors regret in a few years.

Trading recommendations

Bitcoin

Buyers are currently targeting a return to $63,600, which would open a direct path to $65,800, and then to $67,700 — surpassing that level would signal attempts to restore a bull market. On a drop, buyers are expected at $61,100. A return below that area could quickly push BTC toward $59,600, with the most distant target around $58,200.

Ethereum

A clear hold above $1,724 opens a direct path to $1,783. The furthest target is the high near $1,838; overcoming that would indicate strengthening bullish sentiment and renewed buyer interest. On a decline, buyers are expected at $1,645. A return below that area could quickly push ETH toward $1,563, with the most distant target around $1,476.

What's on the chart

• The red lines represent support and resistance levels, where the price is expected to either pause or react sharply.
• The green line shows the 50-day moving average.
• The blue line is the 100-day moving average.
• The lime line is the 200-day moving average.

Price testing or crossing any of these moving averages often either halts movement or injects fresh momentum into the market.