As Bitcoin (BTC) defends a pivotal support level, Tom Lee has called for the end of the crypto winter, setting massive year-end outlooks for the flagship crypto and Ethereum (ETH).
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Tom Lee, the chairman of Ethereum’s largest treasury firm, Bitmine Technology, shared bold end-of-year price predictions for the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
During a quick-fire round of questions at Consensus 2026, the executive affirmed that Bitcoin could soar “well past all-time highs” by year’s end, forecasting that its price may trade between $150,000 and $200,000 in late 2026.
He also predicted that Ethereum could rally into year-end, potentially reaching new highs between $9,000 and $12,000. Lee said his bullish outlook is based on his belief that the crypto winter is over and that a recovery rally could unfold over the coming months.
“Crypto Spring, in our view, has commenced, and like past cycles, investor sentiment and conviction are muted and bearish even as crypto prices strengthen,” he asserted earlier this week, adding that the potential passage, or even failure, of the crypto market structure bill confirms the arrival of crypto spring.
The chairman’s bold predictions come as the flagship crypto defends a crucial support zone. Notably, Bitcoin had been trading between $74,000 and $79,000 since mid-April, finally breaking out of this range earlier this week.
The flagship crypto soared past the $80,000 resistance on Monday for the first time since January. It then rallied during the first half of the week toward the key $82,500 resistance before rejecting on Thursday. Now, Bitcoin is trading between the $79,000-$80,000 area, which some analysts suggest could make or break BTC’s rally.
BTC At Most Crucial Support
Rekt Capital highlighted that Bitcoin has successfully held the 21-week EMA, around the $78,000 level. However, he warned that “this move through this resistance area hasn’t been very sustainable thus far, which opens up the possibility for yet another retest of the 21-week EMA going forward.”
As a result, BTC needs to successfully retest the 21-week EMA again to avoid being completely rejected from the resistance area, between the 21-week EMA and the 50-week EMA, and dropping into the mid-$70,000s.
Meanwhile, market analyst Ali Martinez affirmed that Bitcoin is currently trading around the most important resistance level as the average cost basis of new whales, the entities that bought in the last 155 days, currently sits at $80,300.
He explained that “when Bitcoin trades below this average cost basis, these whales are holding at a loss,” which means that new whales will be “incentivized to sell just to break even and avoid further losses” if BTC fails to hold the $80,300 area as support.
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Martinez warned that this panic to exit would create a wave of selling pressure that pushes prices much lower. On the contrary, if the flagship crypto turns this level into support, it’d signal that selling pressure has exhausted.
“Once these whales are back in the green, they stop selling and start holding for higher targets, which is exactly how new uptrends begin,” he concluded.
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
