Bitcoin Or Ethereum To $62,000? Fundstrat Releases Contrasting 2026 Predictions

bitcoinistPublished on 2025-12-21Last updated on 2025-12-21

Abstract

Fundstrat's Tom Lee and the firm's research team present contrasting crypto predictions for 2026. While Lee has publicly reiterated a bullish $62,000 target for Ethereum, an internal Fundstrat report warns of significant bearish headwinds in the first half of the year. The report, verified by Wu Blockchain, projects potential drawdowns to $60,000-$65,000 for Bitcoin, $1,800-$2,000 for Ethereum, and $50-$75 for Solana. It suggests these levels would present attractive buying opportunities into year-end. This contrasts with Lee's previous public optimism, including a $250,000 Bitcoin and $12,000 Ethereum forecast. As of now, Bitcoin trades around $88,180 and Ethereum near $2,980.

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine and managing partner at Fundstrat, has been a vocal optimist when it comes to the cryptocurrency market, especially for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Most recently, Fundstrat’s managing partner revived his $62,000 target call for the Ethereum price in 2026.

However, it appears that Lee and his investment firm do not align in terms of their market expectations for the coming year. Fundstrat seems to be looking at a more bearish setup for most of the large-cap digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, in 2026.

$60,000 Is The Target, But Not For Ethereum

According to screenshots posted on social media platform X, Fundstrat released a 2026 crypto strategy report, warning internal clients of potential market headwinds in early 2026. The report’s title, however, also suggested that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana could enjoy significant growth in the second half of next year.

Sean Farrell, Fundstrat’s head of digital asset strategy, projected significant drawdowns for the crypto market in the first half of 2026. The research set the target for the Bitcoin price between $60,000 to $65,000, the Ethereum price within $1,800 – $2,000, and the Solana price around $50 – $75.

Farrell wrote in the report:

These levels would present attractive opportunities into year-end. If this view proves incorrect, I still prefer to play defense and wait for confirmation of strength.

This circulating report stands in contrast to the predictions of Tom Lee, who is the chief investment officer (CIO) at Fundstrat. Speaking to attendees at the Binance Blockchain Week earlier this month, Lee stated that the price could run up to as much as $62,000 as Ethereum becomes the core infrastructure for tokenized finance.

In September, at the Korea Blockchain Week, Lee said that the price of Bitcoin could reach as high as $250,000 by year-end, while Ethereum’s value could climb toward $12,000. The rationale for this projection revolved around macro tailwinds and growing institutional interest in crypto assets.

Now, while the Fundstrat internal document has yet to be authenticated by Bitcoinist as of press time, Colin Wu-led outlet Wu Blockchain verified that this document was indeed distributed to internal clients.

Bitcoin And Ethereum Price At A Glance

As of this writing, Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is valued at around $88,180, reflecting no significant movement in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the price of ETH stands at around $2,980.

The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

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After the Developer Count Halved: Crypto Is Not Dead, It's Just Ceding Talent to AI

Following a significant decline in the total number of open-source crypto developers, from a peak of 45K in 2022 to approximately 23K by 2026, this article argues the industry is undergoing a "talent deleveraging" rather than a collapse. The exodus primarily consists of newcomers who entered during the bull market, while the core of experienced developers (2+ years) has grown to a record high, contributing around 70% of code. These established builders are concentrating in ecosystems with real users and revenue, like Bitcoin and Solana. The article posits that crypto has cultivated a unique skill set in building trustless, autonomous systems with near-zero tolerance for error—a capability now finding high demand in the AI era. As AI scales, it faces structural gaps in decentralized compute aggregation, multi-agent coordination/incentive alignment, and autonomous payment infrastructure. Crypto builders are transitioning their expertise to address these exact problems. Examples include CoreWeave (mining to AI compute), Hyperbolic (decentralized compute verification), EigenLayer (extending restaking mechanisms to AI agent governance), and the x402 protocol (enabling AI agent micro-payments via stablecoins). The role of the crypto builder is evolving from writing smart contracts to designing the rule-based, trust-minimized frameworks necessary for AI-native systems. Venture capital is increasingly funding this convergence, viewing it as a structural opportunity rather than a narrative shift. The core talent and systemic design principles from crypto are not disappearing but being re-priced and applied to the foundational challenges of scalable AI.

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