Tom Lee: ETH/BTC Ratio Breaks Post-COVID Trendline Amid Institutional Momentum

Ethereum is showing strength against Bitcoin, enhancing its position in the institutional market. Bitmain reported that on September 14, the ETH/BTC price ratio reached its highest level since January 30, breaking through the trendline that had been in place since the post-COVID high and forming a new upward trajectory.

Bitmain Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee stated: "The ETH/BTC price ratio has risen to its highest level since January 30 this year, forming a new upward trend after breaking through the trendline that had been in place since the post-COVID high. This reflects growing recognition of Ethereum as a payment infrastructure for Wall Street tokenization and its potential central role in agent-based AI management." He added: "It's impressive that both ETH absolute price and ETH/BTC are showing strength even as global stock markets remain range-bound due to war risks and rising interest rates."

Bitmain Capital Markets Advisor Tom Dimak, founder of Dimark Analytics, predicted a sharp rise in ETH within weeks. He noted: "ETH traded sideways without breaking downward on August, and the indicator expired on September 12, suggesting that an upward move could resume." Dimak added that the existing uptrend is further supported by this pattern, stating: "The sharp increase seen at the end of August may have been a precursor to future gains."

Lee stated that as of the third quarter of 2026, Ethereum has delivered the highest quarterly performance among macro assets, outperforming S&P 500 by 5866 basis points. He noted: "The top three performing assets since June 30 are ETH, SOL, and BTC," adding that with cryptocurrency now significantly outperforming other macro assets, institutions are positioned to increase their crypto holdings.

Bitmain purchased an additional 27,180 ETH last week. Since implementing its Ethereum treasury strategy on June 30, 2025, the company has been buying ETH weekly, a record unmatched by any global listed company. As of September 13, Bitmain holds 5,956,378 ETH, representing 4.9% of the total ETH supply of 122 million, achieving 98% of its target for the "5% alchemy" goal.

The combined value of crypto assets, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and strategic "moonshot" holdings totals $15.8 billion. Bitmain claims to be the largest Ethereum treasury globally and the second-largest cryptocurrency treasury worldwide. The company has staked 5,067,309 ETH, valued at $12.7 billion, with an estimated annualized return of $334 million and a current annualized yield of 2.62% as of September 12.