Quick Breakdown
- BitMEX chair Tom Lee predicts Ethereum could surpass Bitcoin’s market dominance.
- Lee compares Ethereum’s potential rise to how U.S. equities overtook gold after the end of the gold standard in 1971.
- He believes Ethereum’s growth will be driven by the tokenization of assets such as stablecoins, stocks, and real estate.
Ethereum could eventually eclipse Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market, mirroring how U.S. equities overtook gold after the end of the gold standard in 1971, according to BitMEX chair Tom Lee.
Speaking with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, Lee compared Ethereum’s potential rise to the U.S. dollar’s ascent to global dominance following President Richard Nixon’s decision to detach the dollar from gold.
Ethereum’s “Dollar moment” could mirror gold’s decline
Lee noted that when gold lost its monetary backing, Wall Street engineered new products that shifted global financial power to the U.S. dollar and equity markets. “Wall Street created products that made the dollar dominant,” he said. “The market cap of equities today is $40 trillion compared to $2 trillion for gold.”
He believes a similar dynamic could play out between Ethereum and Bitcoin, as financial markets evolve toward tokenization. “Dollar dominance became the opportunity of the century for Wall Street,” Lee said. “Now, Ethereum could experience that same kind of dominance as everything becomes tokenized.”
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin’s market capitalization currently stands at about $2.17 trillion — roughly 4.6 times larger than Ethereum’s $476 billion. Despite this gap, Lee argues Ethereum’s structural role in powering DeFi, stablecoins, and asset tokenization could make it the backbone of blockchain-based markets in the long run.
Tokenization could be Ethereum’s catalyst
Lee emphasized that Ethereum’s advantage lies in its ability to host tokenized versions of real-world assets such as stocks and real estate. “As we move dollars, stocks, and property onto the blockchain, Ethereum stands to benefit most,” he explained.
Still, Lee was careful to stress that this is a “working theory,” not a guaranteed outcome. While bullish on Ethereum’s long-term potential, he remains a strong supporter of Bitcoin as the market’s most established digital store of value.
Meanwhile, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes maintains that Bitcoin must first surge beyond $110,000 and potentially hit $150,000 to $200,000 before a true altcoin season can begin.
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