The crypto bear market is probably going over, arguing {that a} contemporary cycle pushed by tokenization and synthetic intelligence-powered monetary companies is starting to take form, mentioned Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine (BMNR) and co-founder of Fundstrat.
Talking at Consensus 2026 in Miami on Thursday, Lee pointed to bitcoin’s latest power as a historic sign that the market abandoning the downtrend that noticed costs crater from $126,000 in October to $60,000 in February.
After constructive month-to-month returns in March and April, BTC is up one other roughly 5% in Might to date, which might be the third consecutive constructive month-to-month return.
“You’ve by no means in a bear market if bitcoin closes up three consecutive months,” Lee mentioned. “If bitcoin closes above $76,000 this month, the bear market is definitively over.”
The CoinDesk Bitcoin Value Index closed April at $76,300, whereas the asset is presently buying and selling slightly below $80,000.
Lee mentioned buyers stay psychologically anchored to the final crypto downturn and are underestimating the power of the present rebound. He additionally pointed to bullish technical alerts from veteran dealer John Bollinger, who not too long ago mentioned his development fashions had turned constructive on bitcoin.
Including to the bullish narrative, Lee famous that software program shares — a sector that was battered amid considerations of AI disrupting its enterprise mannequin and Fundstrat not too long ago upgraded — have traditionally traded in shut correlation with bitcoin. Since tensions escalated between the U.S. and Iran, Lee added, crypto belongings have outperformed most conventional markets, with ether (ETH) main positive factors.
Tokenization and AI brokers driving subsequent cycle
Fueling the subsequent bull market in crypto are two megatrends which might be disrupting finance: all belongings migrating onchain referred to as tokenization and synthetic intelligence (AI) brokers utilizing blockchain rails.
Lee argued that AI brokers are going to wish cash to maneuver worth autonomously, and for that they’ll more and more depend on blockchain networks and tokenized monetary methods.
He pointed to stablecoin adoption as proof the transition is already underway. Stablecoin transaction volumes have already surpassed Visa funds, he mentioned, whereas he pointed to Grayscale’s report that the $300 trillion securities market will ultimately migrate to blockchain rails as tokenized belongings.
“The networks that host a big share of tokenized exercise are going to seize the financial worth,” Lee mentioned.
That shift might radically reshape the economics of finance itself, he argued. Lee in contrast JPMorgan — projected to earn roughly $60 billion this yr with 300,000 staff — to companies like stablecoin issuer Tether and buying and selling large Jane Road, which generate related revenue ranges with only a fraction of the workforce.
“Native digital firms utilizing blockchain as settlement eradicate a whole lot of processes and folks,” he mentioned.
In Lee’s view, crypto-native monetary companies might more and more resemble the web firms that displaced legacy media and telecom giants over the previous twenty years.
“In 10 years, half of the biggest monetary establishments on this planet might be native digital,” he mentioned.
