BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest Ethereum treasury firm, is now staring at a paper loss of over $5 billion after the altcoin’s 40% meltdown. The firm’s chairman, Tom Lee, has stashed over 4 million ETH to replicate Strategy’s Bitcoin bet. 

At its peak, Lee’s ETH gambit was valued at nearly $14 billion. Now, it’s worth about $9 billion, marking a $5 billion wipeout. However, he is still optimistic and bullish at press time levels. 

Source: The Block

Lee’s bullish outlook for ETH

According to Lee, ETH and the overall crypto market woes began after the 10 October crash.

However, 2026’s drawdown was exacerbated by macro uncertainty, as tracked by the metals surge and incoming Fed leadership changes. These factorsm he said, were outside crypto. 

Even so, he expects the dip to be a buying opportunity, drawing parallels from Q1 2025’s pullback. 

“The best entry points for crypto and equities come after a decline. When was the best entry points for stocks? It was April 2025, after S&P 500 fell -20% due to tariff wars. Isn’t this the same opportunity in crypto in 2026?”

Lee also highlighted the growing traction of the Ethereum network to support his bullish thesis, calling it the “future of finance.”

Source: X/Tom Lee

Will ETH stay above $2k?

Meanwhile, the positioning across the Options market is mixed for early next week and the rest of Q1 2026 right now. 

According to Arkham and Deribit data, the top Options volumes in the past 24 hours were bullish bets targeting $2.15k and $2.2k on 9 and 13 February, respectively. 

Source: Arkham

However, some have also been betting on further downside to $1.7k by the end of the month, underscoring mixed sentiment in the near term. 

The upside targets can be marked out by the Binance liquidation heatmap too, with $2.2k emerging as the key level for near-term bulls. 

Source: Coinperps 

Final Thoughts

• Fundstrat’s Lee views ETH’s 40% crash as a buying opportunity for early 2025-like gains. 
• However, the market positioning remains mixed, with $2.2k emerging as a near-term bullish target and $1.7k as a potential floor.