How a Fake Ethereum Price Prediction Became Market Narrative

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: ‘Love This’: Ethereum Billionaire Tom Lee Reacts to Fake $20,000 ETH Price Prediction Original Link: Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine Immersion, recently reacted with “love this” to a viral image claiming 2026 ATH targets of $250,000 for Bitcoin, $20,000 for Ethereum and $1,500 for Solana, framing them as “outputs” rather than opinions.

However, the prediction quickly gained a community note warning that the referenced forum post number is outside the board’s current range for December 2025 and that archive checks found no match—suggesting the viral “anon” source appears to be fabricated.

The Treasury Angle

BitMine’s treasury currently contains $11.83 billion in crypto value with 4,066,062 ETH versus 192 BTC, representing a 99.86% ETH allocation by value. This massive concentration means every $1,000 move in ETH marks the portfolio by approximately $4.07 billion on paper, which provides context for why a moonshot headline receives acknowledgment from Lee.

If ETH actually reaches $20,000, BitMine’s 4,066,062 ETH would be valued at roughly $81.32 billion. Given the Ethereum line on CoinGecko’s dashboard is currently shown around $11.82 billion, the upside from that ETH-only stack would represent approximately +$69.5 billion on paper, not counting the separate 192 BTC position.

The Narrative Effect

While the prediction’s fabricated nature is noteworthy, the narrative itself remains tradeable. It still plants a ceiling number for market participants to anchor to and reinforces the idea that ETH is the treasury asset of this cycle, while propping up equity proxies when crypto discussion spills over into traditional stock markets.