Ethereum Co-Founder Sees ETH Overtaking BTC in Market Cap Within a Year
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin believes ETH could surpass Bitcoin’s market capitalization within the next year, citing increasing adoption by corporate treasury buyers and a maturing ecosystem he calls “digital oil” for the decentralized economy.
Speaking to CNBC, Lubin described Ethereum’s current stage as its “broadband moment” — a point where scalability, usability, and legal clarity align to enable mainstream adoption. In the same network, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee shares this bullish outlook, identifying specific catalysts that could drive ETH from current levels to $30,000 or higher within the same timeframe.
Treasury Adoption and Institutional Momentum“If Bitcoin’s worth $20 trillion, what’s the global economy sitting on Web3 rails supercharged by decentralized trust? We may see astonishing things in the next year or so, especially with treasury companies driving things,” Lubin said.
Lubin, who also chairs Sharplink Gaming, said companies are increasingly building Ethereum treasury funds, mirroring the approach Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy took with Bitcoin. This movement, he argued, could accelerate Ethereum’s rise as a core reserve asset for both public and private institutions.
Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, echoed Lubin’s optimism. Lee likened Ethereum’s current trajectory to Bitcoin’s breakout in 2017, when BTC surged on the “digital gold” narrative. He identified three catalysts that could push ETH from $3,700 to $30,000 or higher: regulatory approval for stablecoins, US Securities and Exchange Commission initiatives to move finance on-chain, and major institutions such as JPMorgan and Robinhood building directly on Ethereum.
“Ethereum is where Wall Street meets crypto — and now also where AI meets tokenized economies,” Lee said, highlighting the convergence of decentralized finance, artificial intelligence, and tokenized infrastructure.
Lee also noted that Ethereum’s staking model provides a yield advantage over Bitcoin’s purely deflationary design. He estimated that BitMine, an Ethereum-focused treasury company modeled after MicroStrategy, could generate more than $100 million annually in net income from staking its $3 billion ETH holdings.
Market and Macro TailwindsEthereum’s recent rally has returned co-founder Vitalik Buterin to the ranks of on-chain billionaires. According to Arkham Intelligence, Buterin now holds 240,042 ETH worth roughly $1.04 billion. ETH rose more than 6% on Saturday to $4,332, marking its first close above $4,000 since December.
