Tom Lee: Ether could reach $7,000 to $9,000 by early 2026, with a long-term view of $20,000

Senior Wall Street figures and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee boldly predicts that Ethereum (ETH) could reach $7,000 to $9,000 by early 2026. He stated that as Wall Street accelerates asset tokenization and shifts financial activities onto the blockchain, Ethereum will experience explosive growth in early 2026. This is primarily driven by Wall Street’s efforts to implement on-chain settlement and tokenize securities, with its investment value increasingly linked to its role as a financial infrastructure.

Tom Lee: Wall Street Wants to Tokenize Everything
Lee explicitly states, “Wall Street wants to tokenize everything,” referencing initiatives by Robinhood and BlackRock. He believes this shift can improve the efficiency of traditional finance while establishing Ethereum as the foundation for real-world applications. He also added that, with Ethereum’s growing adoption, its price could eventually reach $20,000. He is very optimistic about Bitcoin, calling it a “true store of value,” and suggests that a price increase to $200,000 next year “makes sense,” while also viewing its recent underperformance relative to gold as temporary.

Lee believes Ethereum’s strong developer community, excellent uptime record, and status as a neutral blockchain make it an ideal platform for institutional tokenization of bonds, real estate, and other real-world assets. Even if major banks like JPMorgan opt for private chains, third-party providers will inject significant liquidity into Ethereum, creating a “super cycle” beyond Bitcoin.

This outlook contrasts with Lee’s short-term volatility expectations, including a potential dip to $2,500 during systemic liquidations, but he considers these pullbacks minor compared to the upside potential.

Analysts like Christopher Perkins emphasize Ethereum’s increasing on-chain activity, over $50 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume annually, and its decade-long operational history, attracting risk-averse institutions seeking a reliable settlement layer. Fundstrat’s recent reports and Lee’s public statements reinforce ETH’s structural advantages, such as the lack of miner sell pressure and lower quantum risk compared to Bitcoin.

Lee’s forecast aligns with broader market trends, including institutional adoption through ETH ETFs and corporate treasuries like BitMine. According to CoinGecko, BitMine has reported holding 4,066,062 ETH.

Ethereum Blockchain Dominates in Tokenized RWA
This year, the tokenized real-world assets (RWA), traditional financial instruments, and on-chain physical assets have rapidly expanded, with total market value growing from approximately $5.6 billion at the start of 2025 to about $18.9 billion.

According to RWA.xyz, U.S. Treasuries are the largest category of tokenized assets, valued at around $8.5 billion, followed by commodities at approximately $3.4 billion.

Ethereum currently accounts for the majority of tokenized RWA value on public blockchains. By the end of December 2025, the network hosted over $12 billion in tokenized assets, far surpassing other blockchains like BNB Chain, Solana, and Arbitrum.

Ethereum also leads in stablecoin issuance, with about $170 billion issued on the network, solidifying its position as the primary settlement layer for on-chain dollar transactions.

In December, institutional interest in tokenized RWA continued to grow. The DTCC, a clearinghouse for securities settlement, announced plans to tokenize some U.S. Treasuries held by its subsidiary on the Canton network. The DTCC is a post-trade infrastructure provider for the U.S. securities market, processing approximately $3.7 trillion in securities transactions last year.

Although some internal analyses by Fundstrat suggest a potential correction to $1,800–$2,000 in the first half of 2026, followed by a rebound to $4,500 by year-end, Lee’s personal target emphasizes the transformative potential of tokenization, which could reverse the ETH/BTC ratio and drive prices higher.