Ethereum may be trading around $3,600 today, but according to veteran market strategist Tom Lee, that price could be a fraction of where it’s headed. In a detailed post on X, Lee argued that Ethereum could soar to $30,000 per token if companies begin using ETH in the same way MicroStrategy used Bitcoin—as a core treasury asset. His argument is based on what he calls the “mathematics of balance-sheet absorption,” a concept that explains how MicroStrategy turned its Bitcoin strategy into a stock market phenomenon. Between August 2020 and today, MicroStrategy’s stock surged from $13 to $455—a massive 35x return. However, only a small portion of that gain came from Bitcoin’s price appreciation. The majority, Lee says, resulted from how the company structured its treasury strategy.
Lee explained that just 11 of those 35 turns came from Bitcoin’s price rise, which moved from around $11,000 to $118,000 in the same period. The remaining 25x return came from MicroStrategy’s smart financial engineering—repeated financings and strategic issuance of stock and debt to increase its BTC per share faster than the spot price of Bitcoin itself. Lee believes this playbook, when applied to Ethereum, could be even more effective due to ETH’s higher volatility and emerging role in corporate treasuries.
According to Lee, there are three strategic levers that make Ethereum uniquely suited for this kind of financial maneuvering. First is issuing equity above net-asset value to purchase more ETH. Second is taking advantage of ETH’s volatility to secure cheaper borrowing through structured debt instruments. And third is using convertibles or preferred shares to minimize dilution for existing shareholders. Because Ethereum’s realized volatility is still greater than Bitcoin’s, Lee argues that companies can drive down the cost of borrowing and leverage their balance sheets more aggressively.
The theory is already being put into practice. Lee is chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, a company that has aggressively accumulated ETH. In its first week of operations, BitMine acquired four times the notional value that MicroStrategy did in its first week of Bitcoin buying back in 2020. A regulatory filing from 17 July confirmed that BitMine now holds 300,657 ETH—worth over $1 billion at the time—after closing a $250 million private placement. The firm reportedly plans to acquire and stake 5% of the total ETH supply, showing just how ambitious this strategy has become in a short span.
And BitMine isn’t alone. Another major ETH buyer is SharpLink Gaming, chaired by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. On 17 July, SharpLink updated its SEC filing to increase its stock issuance authorization from $1 billion to $6 billion, with proceeds earmarked specifically for further ETH purchases. The company had already raised $413 million in just a few days and disclosed it held 280,706 ETH, most of which is staked for yield.
A third participant in this treasury trend is Bit Digital, a publicly listed mining firm. Following a $172 million equity raise and the liquidation of 280 BTC, Bit Digital reported holding 100,603 ETH in treasury and declared its aim to become the “pre-eminent ETH holding company in the world,” according to CEO Sam Tabar.
Combined, these three companies now control over 682,000 ETH, roughly 0.5% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. More importantly, each firm has regulatory approval to continue issuing debt or equity with the express purpose of acquiring more ETH. Lee believes this dynamic creates a “reflexive loop”—rising ETH prices fuel higher share prices, which in turn make capital raising easier, allowing firms to accumulate even more tokens per share. This accelerates price discovery and compresses the time it takes for scarcity to be reflected in the market.
Crypto commentator DCInvestor added further fuel to the discussion, saying, “Tom Lee basically calling for like $30K–$80K ETH. And some of you think we’re stopping at $1K–$2K after the last cycle’s all-time high?”
While Ethereum’s path to $30,000 remains speculative, the comparison with Bitcoin’s 8x move between MicroStrategy’s initial buy and its 2021 peak lends credibility to Lee’s argument. The key difference this time, he says, is speed. Whereas MicroStrategy took four years to build its BTC playbook, Ethereum-focused treasuries have raised billions in under two months.
If more companies follow suit—and if capital markets continue rewarding these strategies—Ethereum may be poised for a breakout that goes far beyond the current cycle’s expectations. Tom Lee’s thesis may not just be bold—it might already be in motion.
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