Ether’s 21% first-quarter slump should be viewed as an attractive entry point rather than a breakdown in fundamentals, according to Fundstrat research head Tom Lee.
Lee said Ethereum’s price weakness has come despite rising on-chain activity, with daily transactions hitting a record 2.8 million and active addresses peaking near one million in 2026.
“Thus, non-fundamental factors are arguably more the factors explaining the weakness in ETH prices,”
Said Tom Lee.
Lee argued that leverage has not returned to crypto markets since the October crash, while a surge in precious metals has acted as a “vortex” pulling risk appetite away from assets like Ether.
Data from CoinGlass shows the first quarter of 2026 is shaping up to be Ether’s third-worst on record, even as network usage continues to grow.
Lee said his Ethereum treasury firm BitMine has been buying the dip, acquiring more than 41,000 ETH in the past week as prices slid sharply.
“In our view, the price of ETH is not reflective of the high utility of ETH and its role as the future of finance,”