Fundstrat’s head of research, Tom Lee, believes Ethereum could be on the verge of a massive surge in network fees, driven by shifting trends in corporate finance and a growing appetite for crypto integration.
According to Lee, younger generations are likely to steer away from traditional banking and gravitate toward institutions that are crypto-native. This shift, he suggests, will encourage companies — especially fintech giants like PayPal and credit card issuers — to hold crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as part of their operational capital.
Lee likens firms such as MicroStrategy and Metaplanet, which already hold Bitcoin in their treasuries, to early examples of this emerging financial architecture, one that could soon be replicated by larger institutions.
Ethereum stands to benefit significantly from this transformation. With the bulk of stablecoins, tokenized assets, and real-world asset infrastructure built on Ethereum, the network is uniquely positioned to handle this new demand. Stablecoins, in particular, already contribute around 30% of Ethereum’s transaction fees, highlighting their growing role in network activity.
Lee pointed to a recent comment by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who estimated the stablecoin market could expand to over $2 trillion — an increase that would represent a tenfold rise in network fee revenue for Ethereum.
As Ethereum continues to dominate the stablecoin sector and real-world asset tokenization, Lee argues that fee revenue could scale exponentially. Data from DeFiLlama supports this view, showing that Ethereum has already accumulated over $20 billion in fees to date, with daily earnings surpassing $128,000.
