In this episode, ARK’s Cathie Wood and Brett Winton sit down with Tom Lee — co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors and chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies — to explore the rising influence of Ethereum as a financial infrastructure layer. Tom shares how BitMine transformed into the largest corporate holder of Ethereum globally, and why digital asset treasury companies DATs could serve as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized networks.
The conversation covers Ethereum’s “ChatGPT moment,” the regulatory unlock of 2025, and why institutional investors may prefer equity-wrapped crypto exposure. Tom also lays out a bold vision in which Ethereum surpasses Bitcoin in market cap and becomes the financial internet’s base layer — absorbing everything from stablecoins and tokenized assets to staking, liquidity backstops, and even prediction markets.
The trio also examines risk dynamics, corporate strategy, and the architectural differences between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake systems as Wall Street starts to build on-chain.
Key Points From This Episode:
- 00:00:00 How BitMine evolved from a small miner into the largest Ethereum-holding DAT.
- 00:03:00 Why BitMine’s ETH per share jumped 9x in 8 weeks — and what’s next.
- 00:06:30 Why DATs exist at all — and why they’re crucial for institutional access.
- 00:08:05 Ethereum’s “ChatGPT moment”: Stablecoins as breakout crypto products.
- 00:10:29 How BitMine solved a regulatory bottleneck for ARK’s crypto exposure.
- 00:14:54 The flippage theory: Why Tom believes ETH will surpass Bitcoin.
- 00:19:34 Proof-of-stake vs. proof-of-work: Comparing network resilience and incentives.
- 00:24:06 Targeting 5% of ETH supply: How much is too much for a DAT?
- 00:28:48 How BitMine is like a “reverse bank” — and why that earns it a NAV premium.
- 00:33:16 What could dethrone BitMine’s lead? The tech risk and Solana wildcard.
- 00:38:47 Ethereum can’t hold everything: Why multiple chains will exist.
- 00:50:27 How tokenization unlocks transparency, pricing, and global efficiency.
- 00:54:03 Tom’s 2030 forecast: Ethereum at $60K and digital treasuries worth $5T.
