Bitcoin and Ether are set for a huge rally in the fourth quarter this year thanks to easing monetary policy in the United States, according to Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman Tom Lee.
Monetary liquidity sensitivity and global central banks’ easing, along with strong seasonality will drive Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) prices, said Lee on CNBC on Monday.
“I think they could make a monster move in the next three months … huge.”
He added that these might be one of the “stand-out trades” for the rest of this year, also partially driven by the Federal Reserve reducing rates for the first time this year.
Lee compared the situation to September 1998 and 2024 when the Fed was on an “extended pause” and cut rates that month. “The Fed can actually reinject confidence by saying we’re back into an easing cycle,” he said, adding that a rate cut will be a “real improvement in liquidity.”
The US central bank is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, though futures markets predict a slim 4% chance of a larger 50 basis point cut.
Ethereum trades like 1971 Wall Street
When asked if BTC and Ether were still risk-on assets, Lee said that Bitcoin was particularly monetary policy and liquidity sensitive, while Ether also has elements of being sensitive to liquidity.
“But it’s also part of this AI moving onto the blockchain and Wall Street moving onto the blockchain and that whole stablecoin ChatGPT moment for crypto,” he said before adding:
“So Ethereum, I think, almost trades like 1971 Wall Street when the dollar went off the gold standard and there was a lot of innovation … Ethereum essentially is a growth protocol.”
Related: Ethereum is the ‘biggest macro trade’ for next 10-15 years: Fundstrat
Lee closed by saying this was why BitMine was aggressively acquiring Ether.
BitMine accumulates more ETH
In its latest update on Monday, the company revealed that it had $10.77 billion in cash and crypto holdings, including 2.15 million ETH.
The company now holds $9.7 billion worth of Ether, or almost 1.8% of the entire supply.
“The convergence of both Wall Street moving onto the blockchain and AI and agentic-AI creating a token economy is creating a supercycle for Ethereum,” said Lee.
ETH prices were trading at just over $4,500 at the time of writing, down 2.7% on the day, but up almost 5% since the same time last week.
Magazine: XRP to retest highs? Bitcoin won’t go sideways for long: Hodler’s Digest
