Tom Lee Predicts Institutional Crypto Buying After Ethereum's Strong Quarter

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, anticipates institutional crypto purchases following a robust quarter. The company's 5.9 million Ethereum (ETH) tokens remain well below their acquisition cost.

On September 7, the firm assessed its total crypto, cash, and equity at $15.7 billion.

Lee Notes Crypto's Quarterly Lead

In the company's weekly report, Lee stated that Ethereum is the top-performing macro asset in the quarter. Its advantage over the S&P 500 reached 5,430 basis points as of last Friday. Since June 30, ETH, Bitcoin (BTC), and Solana (SOL) have been the three best-performing assets.

Lee directly connected that performance to institutional appetite.

“We believe this sets the stage for institutions to add to their crypto holdings given the substantial outperformance of crypto versus other macro assets in calendar Q3 so far,” Lee said.

The comments accompanied a purchase update. BitMine bought 28,086 ETH in the last week, raising its total to 5.9 million tokens.

Each acquisition brings BitMine nearer to 5% of the supply while deepening its underwater position. According to CryptoQuant, unrealized losses stand at about $5 billion.

The Ethereum rally has reduced that deficit. The token gained 29.7% in the past month, per BeInCrypto Markets data. Yet the distance to a profitable position is still large.

Staking Income Eases the Pain

BitMine isn't relying solely on price to erase the shortfall. The company has staked more than 5 million ETH, representing 85% of its holdings.

Lee estimated annualized staking earnings at $330 million. At scale, the staking reward rises to $386 million, based on a 7-day yield of 2.61%.

The stock has also profited from the crypto surge. BMNR advanced 99% quarter-to-date, Lee noted, placing fourth in the Russell 1000.

To hit 5% of supply, BitMine requires approximately 171,000 additional tokens. At the previous week's rate, that would take roughly six weeks.