Tom Lee says rising oil prices are driving Ethereum selling pressure, though he still expects long-term growth from tokenization and AI.
Ethereum News
Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee has pointed to rising crude oil prices as the primary driver of selling pressure on Ethereum (ETH), citing an inverse correlation between the two assets that he describes as being at a record high.
Oil prices have climbed roughly 66% over the past three months, moving from $65 to above $100 per barrel as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalated. West Texas Intermediate hit $108 and Brent crude reached $111 on Monday after fresh geopolitical developments raised concerns over potential disruptions to a key regional oil supply route.
Lee made his remarks in an X post on Monday, describing oil as "the biggest headwind" for ETH. ETH has declined nearly 10% over the past week and was trading at around $2,100 on Monday, putting it 57% below its all-time high.
Despite the near-term pressure, Lee characterized the current situation as "short-term tactical noise" and said a reversal in oil prices would be followed by #Ethereum recovery. He pointed to tokenization and #AgenticAI as the structural drivers that should push ETH prices higher through 2026.
Ethereum currently holds more than 60% market share in real-world asset tokenization when layer-2 networks are included. BlackRock and JPMorgan have both recently launched tokenized funds on the Ethereum network, reinforcing its position as the dominant infrastructure layer for institutional on-chain activity.
The agentic AI thesis rests on the premise that AI payment agents, which cannot access bank accounts, will rely on crypto tokens such as $ETH or stablecoins to settle transactions. Lee has flagged this as a longer-term demand catalyst for the asset.
Other analysts caution that oil alone does not explain ETH's underperformance. Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at the Bitrue Research Institute, said on Monday that the asset is facing "multi-factor pressure," including ETF outflows, rising exchange reserves, whale selling activity, broader risk-off sentiment, and ETH's ongoing underperformance relative to BTC.
Ether's correlation with risk assets means it absorbs harder blows during macro sell-offs, Adziima added, making the current environment particularly challenging even if oil stabilizes.
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