Tom Lee Sees $2 Trillion Wealth Transfer as Fuel for Crypto
The $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion wealth transfer could support demand for crypto and Ethereum, according to Lee, while Bitmine now holds nearly 5% of the ETH supply.
Key Takeaways
- Tom Lee sees a $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion wealth transfer between 2026 and 2028 as possible support for the next crypto bull market.
- According to Lee, younger heirs may be more interested in crypto and stocks, which could send part of that inheritance into digital assets.
- Bitmine bought another 12,532 ETH and now holds 6,028,946 ETH, worth about 4.9% of the total Ethereum supply.
Tom Lee sees a major wealth transfer as possible fuel for the next crypto bull market, while his company Bitmine is also moving closer to a 5% stake in the Ethereum supply. The chairman of the ether treasury firm says younger heirs are likely to take more risk with crypto than earlier generations.
Inheritance and Crypto Demand
Lee pointed to estimates from the U.S. tax agency IRS and Fundstrat showing that between 2026 and 2028, an estimated $1.5 trillion (€1.3 trillion) to $2 trillion (€1.8 trillion) is expected to change hands. In his view, that could support demand for crypto, since some of that money may end up with younger investors who are more interested in digital assets and stocks.
He said in a statement that this wealth transfer could support the next crypto bull market. At the same time, it is still unclear how much of that money will actually flow into crypto. Lee also pointed to Wall Street's growing push into blockchain for financial assets, the rise of AI applications, and crypto treasury companies that hold tokens for the long term.
Bitmine Keeps Buying
Bitmine Immersion Technologies bought another 12,532 ETH last week, worth about $32 million (€28.6 million) at Monday's price. That brought its total holdings to 6,028,946 ETH, with a value of about $15.3 billion (€13.7 billion).
That is about 4.9% of the total Ethereum supply of 122.1 million tokens. Bitmine is still about 76,000 ETH below its 5% target. Lee already said last week that the company will stop buying once it reaches that level.
Bitmine started its Ethereum strategy in June 2025 and has been buying ETH every week since then. The company has now staked about 5.07 million ETH, or 84% of its holdings, and expects about $336 million (€301 million) in annual staking revenue at current yields.
Why This Matters
For European crypto followers, the big takeaway is that a large publicly traded company is holding so much ETH and locking up a big chunk of it in staking. That can affect the amount of liquidity available in the market and makes Bitmine's position important to watch, especially now that the company is close to its own 5% target. The ongoing 5% limit for Bitmine is also relevant here, since Lee has said the company will stop buying after that point.
