Iran war won’t spoil Ethereum price rally in March, Tom Lee says

Wall Street’s tokenisation efforts are among the reasons why Ethereum’s price will rally in March despite the uncertainty of the war in Iran, according to Tom Lee.

The chair of Bitmine, a digital asset treasury firm predominantly stockpiling Ethereum, said that cryptocurrency prices are showing signs of bottoming out, which means that they’re set for a rebound.

“So much is being built on Ethereum now, almost every major announcement of a tokenised fund,” Lee said on CNBC Squawk Box. “If it’s all taking place on Ethereum then price follows.”

Tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights in assets such as real estate, stocks or bonds into digital tokens on a blockchain. Financial giants such as BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink have sung the praises of tokenisation, saying it will boost efficiencies and reduce corruption.

Lee has previously forecast that Ethereum’s price will hit $250,000, but hasn’t provided a timeline for that surge.

Lee’s bullish forecast comes as Ethereum’s price has crashed over 50% since the October mass liquidation event that triggered a $2 trillion crypto market drawdown. Bitmine’s share price has also mirrored the negative price action, declining some 66% since September to trade at $20 per share.

“Bitmine is sitting on more than $8 billion in unrealised losses, ” Luke Nolan, senior research associate at CoinShares, told DL News.

Paper losses during a market downturn are not the same as permanent losses, especially if there are no loan rules, margin calls or regular interest payments forcing you to sell, Nolan said.

Wall Street is taking advantage of the discount. BlackRock’s holdings of Bitmine shares surged by 166% to $246 million in the fourth-quarter of 2025, according to a 13F-HR form filed with the SEC.

On Friday, Jeff Housenbold, Beast Industries CEO, declared Ethereum the “backbone” of the stablecoin industry and touted the promise of decentralised finance as the company plans to launch new fintech products for its 1.5 billion fanbase. Bitmine invested $200 million into Beast Industries in January.

Ethereum is up 9% over the past seven days to trade around $2,000.

War worries?

Lee’s optimism also comes against the backdrop of an escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Yet, traders shouldn’t be too concerned about the US and Israeli strikes on Iran because the US economy’s fundamentals haven’t changed, Lee said.

“In the past, markets tend to sell during the buildup, and they tend to do better once the battle begins, and I think this is going to be similar,” he said. “No one likes to see headlines and images of explosions and war.”

Markets are concerned about disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint through which more than $500 billion worth of oil and gas flows annually. Over the weekend, traders took to Hyperliquid to bet on oil prices, with USOIL reaching 97$ on Sunday.

Adding to market momentum, the US Federal Reserve will likely take a dovish stance and print more money if oil prices skyrocket, Lee said. More money in the financial system is typically bullish for asset prices like crypto and technology stocks.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin is up 3.7% over the past 24 hours, trading at $68,192.
• Ethereum is up 3.3% past 24 hours at $2,000.

What we’re reading

• Hyperliquid captures macro trade as Bitcoin price hovers near $65,000 after Trump’s Iran gambit— DL News
• Circle’s breakout year sets up 129% upside to $190 per share, Bernstein says— DL News
• Wall Street Leans Into Crypto Despite Bear Market Gloom — Unchained
• War good, peace bad? — Milk Road
• Tokenised gold continues rally while Bitcoin slides on US attack against Iran — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com.