Tom Lee Discusses Entry into Digital Asset Bull Market and AI Fund Movements

Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmain, stated that "a bull market for digital assets is underway," citing the movement of funds from artificial intelligence (AI) to digital assets and tokenization. He suggested the possibility of further increases in the fourth quarter of this year, diagnosing that the digital asset market has entered a bullish phase since the end of June. Lee explained that the movement of funds from AI to digital assets, tokenization, strengthening fundamentals centered around AI, and the end of a four-year cycle are the backgrounds for this bullish trend. Ethereum (ETH) has shown stronger performance than other major assets in the third quarter of this year, and he indicated that Ethereum's outperformance in the third quarter of 2026 suggests a stronger upward movement in the fourth quarter. The influx of funds from institutional investors was also mentioned as a contributing factor, with Bitmain recently purchasing an additional 27,562 Ethereum, bringing its total holdings to 5,983,940. Based on current prices, this amounts to approximately $16.3 billion, with the recent purchase corresponding to about $75 million. The total value of Bitmain's digital assets, cash, securities, and other investments reaches $17.1 billion, with Ethereum holdings exceeding 4.9% of the current circulating supply. Staked Ethereum amounts to 5,067,309, representing about 85% of total holdings, and the annualized staking income is estimated at $357 million.