Ethereum may be approaching a major market bottom after recording the lowest daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) in its history, according to analyst Michaël van de Poppe.
The comments come as Tom Lee’s Bitmine completed its largest acquisition yet, a $213M purchase, as Ethereum’s price continues to trade well below its all-time high at around $1,679.
Despite the steep selloff of more than 60% from its 2025 peak near $4,946, several prominent analysts still believe prices between $25,000 to $60,000 are possible by the end of the year.
“In history, the previous lowest reads on the Daily RSI combined with a capitulation have provided a massive return if you were buying those,” he said.
“History will repeat itself on $ETH.”
The RSI, or Relative Strength Index, is a widely used momentum indicator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price movements.
Readings below 30 are typically viewed as oversold, while readings above 70 suggest overbought conditions.
Some trackers showed it as low as 17.4 in the past few days.
What Happened the Last Time Ethereum Reached Similar Extremes?
While Ethereum has never previously recorded an RSI this low, the current environment can be compared to several other major market bottoms.
The closest parallel came during the March 2020 COVID-19 market crash, when Ethereum collapsed below $100 amid panic selling.
After bottoming near $88, Ethereum’s price rallied above $4,800 during the 2020-2021 bull market, generating returns of roughly 50 times from the lows.
Another widely cited example occurred during the 2022 collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
Ethereum’s price plunged below $1,000 as market sentiment deteriorated, before recovering to nearly $5,000 during the following cycle.
More recently, oversold conditions during early 2024 preceded a recovery from around $2,150 to nearly $4,000 later that year.
While oversold conditions do not guarantee immediate price rebounds, previous periods that combined low sentiment with RSI readings have coincided with major rebounds.
Bitmine Makes Biggest Ethereum Purchase Yet
The growing optimism among some analysts comes as Bitmine, chaired by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, dramatically expanded its Ethereum holdings.
According to the company’s latest treasury update, Bitmine acquired 126,971 ETH over the past week, worth over $213M.
The latest purchase brings its total holdings to 5,543,872 ETH, valued at approximately $9 billion at $1,630 per ETH.
“We increased our buying as we believe this pullback in ETH prices does not reflect the strengthening of Ethereum fundamentals,” Lee said in a statement.
Despite Ethereum’s price weakness, Lee reiterated that the market was in the “early stages of crypto spring,” stating that Bitmine was expected to reach its 5% Alchemy goal “sometime in 2026.”
The Ethereum bull also pushed back on recent theories that AI could be a problem for the entire crypto industry, arguing it will be positive for ETH.
“AI systems are going to find flaws in centralized financial services rails and weak decentralized protocols,” Lee said.
He said it “strengthens the use case” for Ethereum and that the firm believes it will not put pressure on ETH prices.
As of June 7, the company reported staking 4.72 million ETH, representing more than 85% of its total holdings.
“Bitmine has staked more ETH than other entities in the world,” Lee said.
“At scale, the projected ETH staking reward is $270 million on an annualized basis.”
Whale Activity Suggests Accumulation
Separate data from blockchain analytics platform Santiment showed a surge in large transactions involving Coinbase Wrapped Staked Ether (cbETH), a liquid staking token tied to staked Ethereum.
Santiment reported 185 transactions exceeding $100,000 in a single day, the highest level of whale activity since January, even as the Ethereum price continued to fall.
The spike occurred as crypto markets appeared to be finding a bottom, with Ethereum stabilizing shortly afterward.
“Rather than continuing lower, cbETH’s price began stabilizing and bouncing shortly after the spike,” Santiment said.
While large transaction spikes can sometimes indicate distribution by major holders, Santiment said the price recovery suggests accumulation was the more likely explanation.
“Large holders often move before broader market sentiment shifts, and their willingness to transact heavily during a period of widespread fear may indicate growing confidence in Ethereum-related assets at current valuations,” the firm said.
Even after Ethereum’s sharp decline, several major financial institutions and crypto investors continue to forecast substantial gains over the coming years.
Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick has maintained a $7,500 year-end 2026 target, citing growth in stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and broader Ethereum adoption.
The bank’s longer-term projection sees Ethereum reaching $40,000 by 2030 if tokenized assets and stablecoin markets continue expanding rapidly.
Citi recently lowered its base-case forecast to approximately $3,175 over the next 12 months, reflecting concerns over slower regulatory progress.
However, the bank’s bullish scenario still projects Ethereum reaching $4,488 if investor demand strengthens.
ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood has outlined one of the most aggressive forecasts, suggesting Ethereum could approach $25,000 by the end of 2026.
Former BitMEX chief executive Arthur Hayes has projected Ethereum could trade between $10,000 and $20,000 before the next US presidential election cycle.
