After the biggest crypto deleveraging event in five years, Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, says the worst may be over — and a year-end rally could be in sight.
The Oct. 10 liquidation, triggered in part by rising U.S.-China trade tensions, erased billions in leveraged positions across digital assets.
“That was the biggest liquidation event in five years for crypto,” Lee said. “So, there are still those ripple effects, two weeks later, that are plaguing the crypto market.”
Yet despite the shock, Lee — who also co-founded research firm Fundstrat — told CNBC this weekend that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are showing surprising resilience, pointing to record-low open interest levels and improving technicals as signals that the market is stabilizing.
The deleveraging earlier this month — multiples of what happened during FTX — saw Bitcoin fall “three or four percent,” Lee explained. Today, technicals for both Bitcoin and Ethereum are “flipping positive.”
At last check on Sunday, Bitcoin was trading at around $113,500. See the chart below.
Lee argues that crypto often acts as an early signal for equities and broader market liquidity. He says Bitcoin’s steadiness and Ethereum’s growing on-chain activity—particularly from stablecoin usage on both Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks—suggest improving fundamentals that could translate into broader risk-on sentiment across asset classes.
Lee’s comments come as JPMorgan plans to let institutional clients use Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for loans by year’s end. The move, which will rely on third-party custodians, marks another step in Wall Street’s crypto makeover, especially with the Trump administration loosening regulatory screws.
It’s a full-circle moment for CEO Jamie Dimon, who once called Bitcoin a “pet rock.” Now, that same “rock” can secure a multimillion-dollar loan from the nation’s biggest bank.
“It really does help to see JPMorgan say they’re open to the idea of using crypto as collateral,” Lee added. With fundamentals improving, he argues for “a pretty big movement by the end of the year.”