Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee believes the cryptocurrency market may be entering the early stages of a recovery.
In a note on Monday, Lee said that—much like in previous cycles—investor sentiment remains subdued even as crypto prices begin to strengthen.
“Crypto spring, in our view, has already begun,” he wrote, noting that sentiment and conviction are still muted and bearish despite improving market conditions. He added that the potential passage—or even failure—of the CLARITY Act could signal the start of this new phase.
Crypto markets have endured more than six months of depressed prices following the October 2025 crash, with analysts divided over when a sustained rebound might take hold.
Lee pointed to strong underlying drivers, particularly for Ethereum, highlighting growing interest from Wall Street in tokenization and increasing demand from AI systems that rely on public, neutral blockchains.
He reiterated that the outcome of the CLARITY Act, regardless of direction, could serve as confirmation that a “crypto spring” is underway.
Lee’s comments come as the treasury firm disclosed it purchased more than 101,745 Ether—valued at roughly $242 million—over the past week, moving closer to its target of holding 5% of the token’s circulating supply.
The company now holds over 5.1 million Ether, accounting for about 4.29% of the roughly 120.7 million ETH in circulation, according to its announcement.
Lee said the firm is “continuing our aggressive accumulation,” pointing to an accelerated pace of buying over the past four weeks. He also reiterated his view that ETH is nearing the end of a “mini crypto winter.”
He added that Ether has outperformed the S&P 500 by 1,380 basis points since the onset of the war and remains among the best-performing assets globally, alongside crude oil.
“As for the upcoming drivers of crypto gains, Ethereum continues to benefit from the dual tailwinds of Wall Street tokenizing on the blockchain and from agentic AI systems increasingly needing public and neutral blockchains.”
Bitmine is currently the largest Ether treasury company and among the most active buyers of crypto, alongside Michael Saylor’s firm Strategy, which paused its Bitcoin purchases on Sunday ahead of its first-quarter earnings report.
Bitcoin climbed above $80,000 on Monday and has gained around 20% over the past month. Meanwhile, Ethereum is up nearly 16% over the same period, trading at about $2,380.
Market sentiment has also improved, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index rising to a neutral reading of 50 on Tuesday after spending much of April in “extreme fear” territory.
