TLDR
- Tom Lee and CZ signaled excitement about a possible crypto bull run
- CZ posted a meme-style image hinting the market could turn green soon
- Lee agreed and asked investors if they own enough crypto
- Lee is keeping his long term price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum
- Bitmine keeps adding to its Ethereum holdings every week
Tom Lee and Changpeng Zhao are back in the spotlight this week over cryptocurrency. Lee is the chair of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, and Zhao is the founder of Binance. Both men hinted that a bull market could be arriving soon.
BREAKING: Tom Lee says the crypto bull market has started and this one could be bigger than previous bull markets. pic.twitter.com/rwgKY3xe1q
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) September 30, 2026
The exchange started when Zhao posted an AI-generated photo of himself. The image showed him in bed, colored in green night vision, looking drowsy and surprised.
The photo played on a popular internet meme. It suggested that investors could be caught off guard once crypto prices start climbing again.
Zhao’s post also amplified an earlier message praising the fundamentals of BNB Chain. That message pointed to the long term potential of the BNB token.
Lee responded to Zhao’s post with a short message of his own. He wrote, “Agree, do you own enough crypto?”
Price Targets and Treasury Buys
Lee has said he believes the crypto market has already started a new run. He is keeping his long term target of $150,000 for Bitcoin.
🇰🇷LATEST: Bitmine's Tom Lee says "a crypto BULL MARKET is underway.”
Tom Lee at Korea Blockchain Week 2026 outlines his reasons on why a crypto bull market is underway.
“Ethereum has been consolidating for 5 years” he adds. pic.twitter.com/Xd8n0qZIqL
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) September 30, 2026
He also expects Ethereum to reach $60,000 within a couple of years. Lee has repeated these targets several times in recent months.
Bitmine has also kept putting money into Ethereum. The firm bought 17,362 ETH last week alone.
That purchase pushed the company’s total Ethereum holdings above 6 million coins. At current prices, that stash is worth more than $16 billion.
Bitmine has bought Ethereum every single week since starting its treasury strategy in June of last year. The firm has stuck to this plan through market ups and downs.
Crypto prices had a strong rebound in September. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB all posted gains over the past month.
That momentum slowed over the last week. Treasury yields climbed higher, which put pressure on crypto prices.
Bitcoin fell close to four percent over the past seven days but is still up more than seven percent over the past month. Ethereum and BNB followed a similar pattern, both down over the week but higher over the month.
Bitmine’s own stock slipped too. Shares fell slightly in after hours trading and closed lower during Tuesday’s regular session.
Lee made further comments about the crypto market while speaking at Korea Blockchain Week. He said the coming bull market could turn into the largest cycle yet.
He pointed to crypto related stocks, which have led gains in the third quarter. Lee sees that trend as proof that a bull market is already underway.
He also said this cycle looks different from past ones. Earlier cycles were driven by ICOs, NFTs, meme coins, and stablecoins.
This time, Lee expects tokenization, AI, and a friendlier policy environment toward crypto to play bigger roles. He believes the market could see a bigger breakout than in past cycles after years of sitting still.
