Tom Lee: 'Iran war won’t derail Ethereum rally in March'

Minseung Kang

Summary

Tom Lee said that despite heightened Middle East tensions surrounding Iran, Ethereum (ETH) could rebound in March.
He noted that most of Wall Street’s tokenization initiatives are being built on Ethereum, arguing that the price of a network where activity is concentrated ultimately follows.
He added that if oil prices surge, a shift by the Fed toward a more accommodative stance and the resulting expansion in the money supply could be supportive for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Despite rising tensions in the Middle East surrounding Iran, expectations remain that Ethereum (ETH) could still stage a rebound this month.

According to DL News, a cryptocurrency-focused outlet, Tom Lee—Wall Street strategist and chairman of Bitmine, the world’s largest corporate holder of Ethereum—said in a recent CNBC interview that “Ethereum’s price is showing signs of forming a bottom,” and projected a rebound in March.

Lee pointed to Wall Street’s recent push into tokenization. “Nearly every major tokenized-fund announcement is being built on Ethereum,” he said, adding that “when activity concentrates on a network, the price ultimately follows.”

Tokenization is the process of converting ownership of traditional assets—such as real estate, stocks and bonds—into blockchain-based tokens. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has also stressed that tokenization can improve financial efficiency.

Lee has previously forecast that Ethereum could reach $250,000, though he did not specify a timeline.

Ethereum has fallen more than 50% since a major liquidation event last October, but has risen about 9% over the past seven days and is trading around the $2,000 level.

Lee said that even if the Middle East conflict spreads, the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy have not changed. “In the past, markets tended to pull back when the risk of war rose, and in many cases they actually rebounded once fighting began,” he said.

He also raised the possibility that a sharp spike in oil prices could prompt the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), to pivot to a more accommodative stance. An expansion in the money supply could be supportive for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies and technology stocks, he added.

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