Ethereum’s total value locked could increase tenfold next year, leading to a surge in network activity.
American financial analyst and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee believes that Wall Street’s growing interest in tokenizing stocks will drive Ethereum prices higher in 2026. He reiterated that the token could rise to $7,000 or even as high as $9,000 in early 2026 and eventually reach $20,000 in the years to come.
Speaking on the Power Lunch episode, he explained that Wall Street’s push to tokenise everything would play directly into Ethereum’s strengths. He said, “It will bring use cases forward for Ethereum.”
Lee stated that the overall crypto market will continue to hold up well for the next five to ten years, even as Bitcoin continues to work through its “gold envy” phase and the fallout from liquidation. Next year, he predicts, the top crypto asset will bounce back and reach an all-time high of $200,000, while Ethereum may peak at $ 9,000.
Earlier this month, in November, the Fundstrat founder had argued that Ethereum would eventually dominate the cryptocurrency space, overtaking prominent names such as Bitcoin. He claimed the network’s extensive developer ecosystem and technical resilience set it apart structurally. He added, “I think it’s a true robust community with actual known values, and it’s a neutral blockchain with 100% uptime.”
Crypto analyst Christopher Perkins had supported Lee’s remarks, affirming that more institutions are turning to the network and tokenisation. He also said most firms will likely prioritize risk management, uptime, and security for their blockchain of use.
On Friday, Sharplink’s co-CEO, Joseph Chalom, also shared a more bullish outlook on Ethereum, predicting that its total value locked will grow tenfold in 2026, following the growth of institutions and applications that join the pool. Typically, a rise in TVL indicates increased network participation and hints at potential price implications.
Currently, the network’s TVL stands at approximately $68 billion, and with about 797,704 ETH holdings, Sharplink Gaming now ranks as the second-largest public Ethereum treasury firm.
Chalom also projects that the stablecoin market will reach $500 billion by the end of next year. He asserted that the crypto community can expect an increasing use of global stablecoins, including cross-border remittances, retail payments, and institutional transactions, with Ethereum becoming the fundamental settlement layer for value movement. Furthermore, he anticipates that more large players will enter the market next year.
He added that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) could surpass $300 billion by 2026, largely due to heightened engagement from major asset managers and banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton, and BlackRock.
Moreover, he said sovereign wealth funds will increase their ETH holdings by five to ten times as tokenisation increases, and Ethereum remains the trust foundation for most blockchain innovation. Most wealth funds favour the network for its “ubiquity and time-tested nature,” he contended. He also believes more onchain AI agents and prediction markets will be integrated on mainstream platforms, increasing network activity and TVL in 2026.
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