Is gold and silver's rally overshadowing an incoming crypto rally? Tom Lee thinks so.
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Key Takeaways
Tom Lee says precious metals are stealing the spotlight from crypto fundamentals.
Bitmine continues to add to its $12.8 billion ETH holdings, amid Tom Lee’s bullish forecasts.
Bitcoin faces near-term pressure from geopolitical tensions and risk-off sentiment.
A parabolic surge in gold and silver prices has drawn investor attention away from strengthening fundamentals in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), according to Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee. The bullish analyst noted that it was “only a matter of time” before the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum followed those of precious metals.
Lee’s comments came shortly before gold and silver experienced a sharp but brief flash crash, an episode that wiped out trillions of dollars in a matter of hours.
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Precious Metals Overshadowing Crypto, says Tom Lee
In a post on X on Monday, Lee said the relentless rally in precious metals was masking what he described as improving structural trends in major cryptocurrencies.
“The parabolic and continued surge in gold and silver is overshadowing inherently strengthening fundamentals of crypto, particularly Ethereum and Bitcoin,” Lee said.
Lee added that financial institutions are increasingly positioning Ethereum as a core settlement and tokenization layer, a trend he said was highlighted during discussions in Davos in 2026.
The parabolic and continued surge in Gold and silver are overshadowing inherently strengthening fundamentals of crypto, particularly Ethereum $ETH and Bitcoin $BTC@Davos 2026 highlighted financial institutions are set to build on ethereum and smart blockchains
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) January 26, 2026
“When fundamentals go ‘up and to the right,’ it’s only a matter of time before price follows,” he said.
Despite trading far below its all-time highs, Lee has remained bullish on his long-term predictions of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Lee has predicted that Bitcoin will reach $1 million and over in the future, which in turn he sees triggering a move up to $250,000 for Ethereum.
Bitmine Deepens Ethereum Accumulation
Lee has backed his bullish view with aggressive purchases through Bitmine, a digital asset treasury firm focused on Ethereum.
Bitmine said on Monday it had purchased another $118 million worth of Ethereum, bringing its total holdings to $12.8 billion.
“Ethereum’s strong performance relative to Bitcoin since October reflects investors recognizing tokenization and other use cases being developed by Wall Street are being built on Ethereum,” he said.
As of January 25th, Bitmine’s crypto holdings are comprised of 4,243,338 ETH at an average price of $2,839, marking around a $12 billion value.
Tom Lee Comments Precede Sharp Flash Crash
Lee’s remarks were followed by a sudden and violent selloff in precious metals markets.
According to an analysis report by CCN analyst Victor Olanrewaju, the turmoil began at around 10:14 a.m. EST on Jan. 26, shortly after gold and silver reached new all-time highs.
Spot gold, which had been trading near a record high of $5,110 per ounce, briefly plunged to as low as $4,650 on some price feeds.
Silver momentarily collapsed from around $110 to $88 per ounce.
“The initial crash wiped out $1.7 trillion in value, equal to the total Bitcoin market cap, from the metals,” Olanrewaju said.
Unconfirmed reports cited by CCN suggested that a major institutional trading desk in Singapore may have mistakenly executed a large market sell order instead of a limit order.
This likely overwhelmed “the order books during a period of thin liquidity,” Olanrewaju reported.
Despite the severity of the move, prices recovered quickly.
Gold rebounded to around $5,089, while silver climbed back above $110 per ounce.
Bitcoin Outlook Under Pressure
Analysts agree that Bitcoin’s near-term outlook has turned fragile as renewed geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty weigh on risk sentiment.
It comes despite markets seeing a hopeful shift this week as the widely monitored Crypto Fear & Greed Index climbed nine points to a reading of 29, decisively exiting the ‘Extreme Fear’ zone for the first time in several weeks.
The crypto Greed and Fear Index improved this week. | Source: CoinMarketCap
“Bitcoin is on the back foot, dropping 3% after U.S. President Donald Trump once again raised the stick of further tariffs, threatening NATO allies over control of Greenland,” Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and chief executive of Mercuryo, told CCN.
“While sentiment had flipped positive at the start of the year, the pullback in digital assets suggests that optimism was on thin ice, underscored by multi-million-dollar liquidations across derivatives markets,” he added.
Kozyakov said that crypto markets were once again tracking broader risk-off moves across global assets.
“Cryptocurrency markets are once again spiraling into risk-off mode as global stock markets also record losses,” he said.
“Meanwhile, gold and silver continue to shine brightly as investors seek out safer pastures.”
Technical analysts say Bitcoin’s next move will hinge on whether prices can stabilize above key support levels after recent weakness.
Olanrewaju added that Bitcoin could test the $85,994 region if buyers fail to reclaim $90,000 quickly, but could also climb to $95,383 if bullish persistence occurs.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
