Tom Lee has forecasted a rapid V-shaped recovery for Ethereum ($ETH), despite the asset currently trading more than 60% below its August 2025 all-time high. Speaking at the Consensus Hong Kong 2026 conference on Wednesday, Lee argued that the second-largest cryptocurrency is nearing a perfected bottom since 2018.
The bullish outlook comes as Bitmine Immersion Technologies, where Lee serves as chairman, leveraged the market slump to acquire an additional 40,613 $ETH, bringing its total treasury to over 4.3 million tokens.
$ETH 100% V-Shape Record 👀
Tom Lee highlights Ethereum’s eight V-shaped recoveries since 2018.
Tom DeMark, whose models are followed by macro legends like Paul Tudor Jones and used across institutional desks, says a final undercut near $1,890 would “perfect” the bottom.
That… pic.twitter.com/j9zWoUOLgP
— SamAlτcoin.eth (@SAMALTCOIN_ETH) February 11, 2026
Historical patterns suggest rapid rebound
Lee’s thesis relies on Ethereum’s consistent historical behaviour, noting that every major decline in the asset’s history has been followed by a recovery that matches the speed of its fall.
“A lot of people are frustrated, but keep in mind that Ethereum has fallen more than 50% eight times since 2018,” Lee stated during his keynote. He emphasized that in all eight prior instances, the price recovery was V-shaped, reclaiming lost ground within a timeframe similar to the initial crash. According to Lee, the current decline to approximately $2,000 mirrors the violent resets seen in late 2018, 2022, and early 2025.
Bitmine bolsters treasury amid $6.6 billion paper loss
While critics point to Bitmine’s estimated $6.6 billion in unrealised losses, the firm has remained aggressive in its accumulation strategy. Bitmine now holds roughly 3.58% of the total circulating $ETH supply, ranking second globally in crypto treasury value behind MicroStrategy.
Lee noted that the company has already staked 2.9 million of its tokens, generating roughly $202 million in annualized staking revenue. He views the current rock bottom sentiment as a springboard for future growth, fueled by institutional-grade infrastructure and the upcoming “Glamsterdam” network upgrade scheduled for later this year.
Market price performance
Despite a broad early 2026 market downturn, with Bitcoin under $67,000 and Ethereum dipping to $1,740 on February 5th, ETH’s on-chain utility (active addresses and transaction volume) remains at record highs. This fundamental strength amid a price drop suggests a “V-shaped recovery,” according to Tom Lee.
Enjoyed this piece? Bookmark DeFi Planet, explore related topics, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and CoinMarketCap Community for seamless access to high-quality industry insights.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
