Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine and co-founder of Fundstrat, contends the crypto bear market is concluded as a new cycle powered by tokenization and AI-driven financial services emerges. Speaking at Consensus 2026 in Miami on Thursday, he highlighted bitcoin’s recent surge to $80,953.28 as an indicator that it may be leaving behind its downtrend from October’s peak of $126,000 to February’s low of $60,000.
Bitcoin has seen positive monthly returns in March and April, with a nearly 5% increase in May so far, marking the third consecutive month of gains. Lee emphasized that no bear market had ever witnessed bitcoin close three months in a row at higher values. “If bitcoin closes above $76,000 this month, the bear market is definitively over,” he stated.
The CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index closed April at $76,300, with current trading just below $80,000. Lee noted that investors are psychologically tethered to the last crypto downturn and may be underestimating the rebound’s strength. He cited bullish technical signals from veteran trader John Bollinger, whose trend models have turned positive on bitcoin.
Lee also highlighted that software stocks—which were impacted by fears of AI disrupting their business model but recently received an upgrade by Fundstrat—traditionally correlate closely with bitcoin. Since tensions between the U.S. and Iran increased, crypto assets have outperformed most traditional markets, with ether (ETH) leading gains.
Two megatrends are poised to disrupt finance further: tokenization of all assets onchain and blockchain-enabled AI agents for autonomous value movement. Lee argued that these AI agents will increasingly rely on blockchain networks and tokenized financial systems for transactions.
He pointed to the rapid adoption of stablecoins, noting their transaction volumes already surpass those of Visa payments, as evidence of this transition. Additionally, Grayscale’s report suggests a $300 trillion securities market will eventually move to blockchain rails as assets become tokenized.
“The networks that host a significant portion of tokenized activity will capture economic value,” Lee said, suggesting the potential for a radical reshaping of finance economics. He compared JPMorgan, expected to earn about $60 billion this year with 300,000 employees, to firms like TetherUSDT$0.9997 and Jane Street, which achieve similar profits with far fewer workers.
“Native digital companies utilizing blockchain as settlement eliminate many processes and personnel,” he remarked. Lee predicted that in a decade, half of the world’s largest financial institutions will be native digital entities.
UPDATE (May 7, 17:01 UTC): Adds presentation slides cited by Tom Lee during his Consensus 2026 keynote.