Tom Lee: Crypto spring begins as CLARITY Act boosts Ether

In late April, Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, declared a “crypto spring” and pushed back on forecasts that the market downturn would persist into the fall. He noted investor sentiment remained muted even as prices climbed.

He pointed to a bipartisan compromise on the CLARITY Act negotiated by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks. The compromise narrows rules on stablecoin rewards by banning yield paid on reserves while allowing activity-based rewards to continue.

Lee described the framework as acceptable and expressed hope the bill could pass this year. Markets that track legislative odds put the chance of CLARITY passing in 2026 above 60 percent.

On May 4, Bitmine filed a disclosure showing total crypto and cash holdings of $13.1 billion. The filing listed 5.18 million Ether, roughly 4.29 percent of circulating supply.

Lee identified two structural drivers he expects to support further gains for Ethereum. He pointed to the migration of Wall Street tokenization projects onto the Ethereum chain, where legal and financial token types are being developed. He also cited growing demand from agentic artificial intelligence systems-autonomous software agents that transact on users’ behalf-which he said will favor neutral, open infrastructure such as Ethereum.

Lee noted those trends were strengthening Ether’s use as both a medium of exchange and a store of value. He pointed to recent performance, saying Ether outpaced the S&P 500 by about 1,380 basis points since the Iran War began and ranked among the top-performing assets alongside crude oil.

Lee wrote in late April: “Crypto Spring, in our view, has commenced, and like past cycles, investor sentiment and conviction are muted and bearish even as crypto prices strengthen.”