Can Ethereum Flip Bitcoin? Tom Lee’s Bold Prediction, Odds, and Market Realities

Tom Lee’s 2025 market forecast centers on the Ethereum flip Bitcoin as the price of Ether may hit $60,000 by the end of five years and potentially surpass Bitcoin’s supremacy. The predictions by Lee are fueled by growing institutional investments, high-beta ETF inflows, and the pace of regulators, while major technical, competitive, and supply hurdles confront the Ethereum and render the chances of flipping Bitcoin the topic of endless discussion among experts.

Ethereum flip Bitcoin

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine and co-founder of Fundstrat, says there is an Ethereum/Bitcoin rivalry.

Lee, a prominent Ethereum investor with market strength via institutional investments and public lobbying, predicts ETH will reach $60,000 in five years and has a 50% chance of overtaking Bitcoin.

However, despite Ether’s strong performance this summer, overtaking Bitcoin remains a speculative bet.

Lee’s high forecasts for Ethereum are based on massive institutional purchasing, fresh ETF inflows, and new legislation that boosts trust in blockchain-based finance. This potential is enhanced by the realisation that Ethereum faces legitimate competition—not only from Bitcoin’s incredibly strong market positioning, but also from Ethereum’s ability to fend off new “Ethereum killers” and alternative blockchains around which developers and stablecoin issuers may gravitate based on lower cost and speed.

Ethereum must demonstrate, in addition to being new, that it can overcome technological obstacles and supply limits, as well as establish itself as the worldwide standard for real-world banking, all while contending with rivals and authorities.

On X, cryptocurrency advocates often complain that Ethereum receives greater credit when Bitcoin is down. A deeper look of the two cryptocurrencies reveals that, over time, Ethereum is losing ground to Bitcoin.

In February 2018, Ether’s price vs BTC peaked at 0.13 BTC per Ether. Peak Ether prices in the spring and autumn of 2021, while Bitcoin was moving upward, were between 0.08 and 0.09 BTC.

Fast forward to 2025: at 0.04 BTC per ETH, one Ether is worth 4 million sats, which is less than previously. In other words, following the spring of 2021, Ether’s price did not see any significant increases versus Bitcoin.

Since Ethereum’s peak in 2018 when Ethereum was at 0.13 BTC per ETH, its performance against Bitcoin has continually declined, with some predicting that this value ratio will only reach 0.04 BTC per ETH in 2025. This continuous decline clearly shows stable dominance of Bitcoin over Ethereum.

Ether competition

Spot ETFs for Ethereum competitors, including top layer-1 blockchains, are said to be around the corner, increasing access for investors and competition. Government positions in various alternative digital assets could destabilize Ethereum’s position as the institutional crypto, especially with short crypto transactions and stablecoins with low fees being widely adopted by Tron.

Ethereum can compete with Bitcoin, but unlimited supply and price level that is still troubled well below the 2017 all-time highs, will keep its market dominance at bay.

While Fundstrat’s Tom Lee is optimistic about Ether affinity, BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR) is transitioning towards building a large Ethereum treasury reinforcing their very dedicated focus in the midst of the difficult crypto market.

Conversely, Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin position appears to be under pressure due to investor litigation and exclusion from the S&P 500, further exposing the limitations of Bitcoin maximalism.

Price Prediction: Market Opinion for Ethereum 2025 Several upgrades from the network, along with institutional ETF inflows and a growing DeFi cosmos, are contributing to a bullish 2025 price scenario for Ethereum.

Analysts continue to anticipate Ethereum to clear pivotal resistance levels and potentially hit $6,000 to $9,000 by the end of the year, re-establishing itself as a leader in decentralized finance despite competition from blockchains and the continuous market volatility.

Since more than 30% of all ETH is now staked and transaction fees are drastically slashed by recent protocol upgrades, Ethereum’s narrative of yield is attracting both retail and institutional investors—and those users will help keeping it relevant, even as competitors like Solana and Avalanche compete for market share.

Ethereum: the bullish case

When looking at the progress of Ethereum, it’s clear that it’s gained massive momentum over the summer, lifting its market cap from around $180 billion in April to approximately $515 billion by early September, with Bitcoin’s market cap being over $2.2 trillion. Coming hotfooting into this arena has really sparked investor interest in Ether, and the appeal of network upgrades and staking is drawing both institutional and individual investors.

Joseph Lubin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, is optimistic about closing the gap between the two cryptocurrencies, he believes that the rapid expansion of Web3 applications and decentralized finance will be the driving force for Ethereum’s growth in the years to come.

Ahead of June, Ethereum has been dogged by >criticism over massive sales from the Ethereum Foundation, which led to worries over market stability and helped to push short-term prices lower.

Through this time, Solana took over Ethereum as the lead blockchain for memecoins, distracting attention away from ETH and strengthening its relevance within the meme token market. In the spring, Ethereum traded under $2,000, which was a sign that wider market anxieties — and competition between rival platforms — was taking its toll.

between may and august 2025 ethereums share of the crypto market doubled from 7 to 14 driven by a stunning 60 price surge compared with a 10 rise in bitcoin ethers bull run was fueled by several factors including bitmines shift to building a large ethereum treasury strong inflows into ether etfs and intense competition in the stablecoin sector in addition the european unions announcement that it would use the ethereum blockchain to deploy its digital euro further bolstered sentiment and mid priced investors while positioning ethereum for ongoing growth in an increasingly contested digital asset landscape.

With Tom Lee at the helm, BitMine Immersion Technology has become the largest institutional holder of Ethereum, owning a treasury of more than 1.87 million ETH by the end of August—worth approximately $8.1 billion and accounting for almost 1.6% of the supply. The company’s long-term target is owning 5% of all Ether and currently sits approximately one-third the way there, highlighting the aggressive accumulation strategy of BitMine and its emphasis on staking to yield.

BitMine’s rapid ascension has not gone unnoticed by large investors; Peter Thiel, Cathie Wood, and Bill Miller III have taken major stakes and support the company’s charges to dominate corporate crypto treasury management. To further drive its ETH aspirations, BitMine has committed to releasing $20 billion in BMNR stock to generate more capital to grow its stockpiles of Ethereum and solidify its position as a central figure in the digital assets ecosystem.

ETFs

In July 2025, spot Ethereum ETFs trounced the Bitcoin equivalents by drawing in $1.8 billion versus a mere $70 million for Bitcoin ETF products—reflecting growing institutional interest in the token. This trend was spurred in part by the IPO by Circle, expansion in the stablecoin segment by the GENIUS Act, and the critical function served by Ethereum as the foundation for close to half the active stablecoins.

When the European Central Bank considered using Ethereum and Solana to issue the digital euro on August 22, it came as a seminal move towards blockchain infrastructure mainstream acceptance in large economies. Following that came Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole hinting at a rate reduction that would put further liquidity in the markets. Together, the two catalysts boosted the price of Ether to just shy of the $5,000 threshold for the first time by the end of the month of August.