Fundstrat Head of Research Tom Lee: Ether’s Slump is Attractive Despite Lack of Leverage and Precious Metal Flight

In the eyes of Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, the recent dip in Ether’s (ETH) price should be seen as a buying opportunity. Lee argues that the fundamentals of Ether remain strong, and the drop in price is a result of a lack of leverage and a shift towards precious metals during market volatility.

According to CoinGlass, the first quarter of 2026 is shaping up to be the third-worst Q1 for Ether in history, with a 21% decrease so far this year. However, Lee points out that this decline comes at a time when network activity and fundamentals for Ether continue to grow.

On January 15th, Ethereum saw an all-time high of approximately 2.8 million daily transactions, as reported by Glassnode data cited by Lee. Additionally, active addresses peaked at around 1 million per day in 2026.

Lee notes that during previous crypto winters in 2018 and 2022, transaction activity and active wallets for Ethereum decreased, which is in contrast to the past 12 months. He attributes the current suppression of Ether’s price to two factors: the lack of leverage in the crypto market since the October 10th crash, and the surge in precious metal prices during market volatility, which has drawn capital away from crypto.

BitMine Takes Advantage of Ethereum’s 25% Drop in a Week

Lee’s Ethereum-focused company, BitMine, is confident in a potential recovery. In the last seven days, BitMine has acquired an additional 41,788 ETH.

“We have been consistently purchasing Ethereum, as we see this dip as an opportunity due to the strong fundamentals,” stated Lee.

Currently, BitMine holds 4.28 million ETH, which accounts for 3.55% of the total supply. They are aiming to reach 5% and have already staked 2.87 million ETH.

However, the company’s digital asset treasury has suffered unrealized losses of nearly $7 billion as Ether prices plummeted.

The majority of this price decline occurred in the last week, with ETH dropping over 25% from $3,000 to a low of $2,200 on Monday before slightly recovering.

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