BitMine’s Tom Lee predicts Ethereum will eventually surpass Bitcoin’s market cap as tokenization reshapes global finance.
Tom Lee Predicts Ethereum’s Rise Over Bitcoin
Tom Lee, chair of BitMine and a longtime market strategist, believes Ethereum could overtake Bitcoin in market capitalization — a scenario long referred to as the “flippening.” Drawing a historical comparison, Lee said Ethereum’s potential dominance could mirror how Wall Street and U.S. equities overtook gold after the end of the gold standard in 1971.
“Ethereum could flip Bitcoin similar to how Wall Street and equities flipped gold post-’71,” Lee said during a conversation with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
Currently, Bitcoin’s market cap stands at approximately $2.17 trillion, about 4.6 times larger than Ethereum’s $476 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The ‘Nixon Shock’ Analogy and Tokenization Boom
Lee referred to the “Nixon Shock” — when President Richard Nixon ended the U.S. dollar’s gold backing — as a key analogy for Ethereum’s path. “When the dollar became fully synthetic, Wall Street built products that made it dominant,” Lee explained.
He noted that, over time, U.S. equities grew to $40 trillion in market value, compared to $2 trillion for gold, while the U.S. dollar’s share of global central bank reserves surged from 27% to 57%, accounting for 80% of financial transactions.
“Dollar dominance is going to be the opportunity of Ethereum,” Lee said, adding that this shift will happen as “everything becomes tokenized.”
He elaborated that as stablecoins, stocks, and real estate transition onto blockchain networks, Ethereum will become the foundation for on-chain finance, capturing a vast share of tokenized global value.
The Long-Running ‘Flippening’ Debate Rekindled
The idea that Ethereum could surpass Bitcoin has circulated in crypto circles for years, but renewed institutional interest in tokenization has revived the discussion.
In August, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin said Ethereum could “surge by 100x and flip Bitcoin as a monetary base,” citing its expanding utility beyond payments. Meanwhile, Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow countered that ETH holders would rotate back into Bitcoin once Ethereum’s price peaks.
Even as he expressed optimism for Ethereum, Tom Lee emphasized he remains a Bitcoin supporter, calling his prediction a “working theory.”
Disclaimer
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