<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">Since the crash on the 10th of October, the crypto market has not seen a strong renewed bullish sentiment. In fact, Bitcoin [BTC] decoupled from gold after the deleveraging event and has underperformed it in 2025 and early 2026.While gold and silver printed new highs above $5K and $110, Bitcoin dropped to $86k and may retest its recent low of $80.6k if the weakness persists.Ethereum [ETH] also remained range-bound between $2.8k and $3.2k since November, retesting $2.8k after the recent BTC dip.Commenting on the crypto market’s weakness, Fundstrat’s founder and head of research, Tom Lee, cited the last liquidation cascade and the metals rally as driving the muted price action.<blockquote>“The precious metals’ move has sucked alot of oxygen out of the room. So crypto prices aren’t keeping up with fundamentals. But when fundamentals go to the right, prices do follow.”</blockquote>Lee, who doubles as chairman of Bitmine Immersion, the world’s largest ETH treasury firm, concluded that,<blockquote>“As long as gold and silver rise, there’s FOMO to buy that instead of BTC. But when gold and silver take a break, that would lead to Bitcoin and Ethereum surge afterward.”</blockquote><h2>Bitmine stakes over half of its ETH holdings</h2>That said, BitMine has staked over half of its holdings of +4 million ETH. In the past few hours, the firm scooped up an additional 20k ETH and staked another whopping $610 million in ETH (209,540 coins).This brought its overall staking stash to over 2.2 million ETH, worth $6.5 billion, or 52% of its overall holdings.<div id="attachment_565434"><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bitmine-Ethereum-Fundstrat-Tom-Lee.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="1674" height="994" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bitmine-Ethereum-Fundstrat-Tom-Lee.jpg"/>Source: X/Lookonchain</div>Interestingly, ETH staking demand hit a record after crossing 30% of the total ETH supply, with several U.S. spot ETH ETFs lined up to seek yield on their holdings.But this is not the only positive fundamental for ETH that has been climbing higher. Daily transaction counts hit a new high, while the average transfer cost across the chain has fallen to a relatively low, competitive level.<h2>Will ETH price remain range-bound?</h2>Despite ETH’s price lagging, Lee believes it will eventually catch up to the fundamentals. On the weekly liquidation map, the key levels to watch ahead of the Fed rate decision were $2.98K and $2.85K, which were crucial liquidity pools for leveraged shorts and longs, respectively.In most cases, volatility swings triggered by liquidity grabs always push price action toward these key pools.<div id="attachment_565435"><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-27-150906.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="1372" height="647" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-27-150906.png"/>Source: Coinglass</div><hr/><h2>Final Thoughts</h2><ul><li>Fundstrat’s Lee believes the ongoing gold and silver boom will continue to keep traders away from crypto.</li><li>BitMine has scaled its staked ETH to 2.2 million, representing 52% of its overall holdings.</li></ul></div>

Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat and chairman of Bitmine, suggests that the crypto market is currently subdued due to the recent surge in gold and silver prices. Bitcoin has underperformed, dropping to $86k, while Ethereum remains range-bound. Lee believes that once gold and silver prices stabilize, crypto could see a resurgence. Bitmine has staked over 2.2 million ETH, representing 52% of its holdings, amid rising ETH staking demand and transaction counts. Lee anticipates that ETH will eventually align with its fundamentals despite current price lagging.

- Since the crash on October 10, the crypto market has struggled with bullish sentiment, with Bitcoin underperforming gold and Ethereum remaining range-bound.  
- Fundstrat's Tom Lee noted that the rally in precious metals is impeding crypto prices, suggesting Bitcoin and Ethereum may surge when gold and silver stabilize.  
- BitMine has increased its staked ETH to 2.2 million, constituting 52% of its holdings, amid rising staking demand and high daily transaction counts in the Ethereum network.

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Bitmine’s Tom Lee: Crypto may surge once gold and silver cool off