Andrew Kang Calls Tom Lee's Ethereum Thesis "Financially Illiterate" Amid $200 Million Bitcoin Bet

Andrew Kang, founder of crypto venture firm Mechanism Capital, has vehemently criticized BitMine's Tom Lee's latest Ethereum (ETH) thesis, labeling it "financially illiterate." Kang's sharp remarks, made in a recent post on X, challenge Lee's assertion that stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) adoption will significantly drive Ethereum's value. This critique comes as Kang reportedly increased his bullish position on Bitcoin to $200 million.

Kang argued that Lee's thesis is deeply flawed, highlighting that despite a "100–1000x" increase in tokenized asset value and stablecoin transaction volumes since 2020, Ethereum's transaction fees have remained "practically at the same level." He attributed this stagnation to Ethereum's efficiency upgrades, the migration of activity to alternative blockchains like Solana and Arbitrum, and the limited fee generation from tokenizing low-velocity assets. "You could tokenize a trillion dollars worth of assets but if that’s not moving around much then it maybe would only add $100k worth of value to ETH," Kang stated.

The Mechanism Capital founder also dismissed Lee's comparison of Ethereum to "digital oil," calling it a "misguided" analogy. Kang contended that if ETH is viewed as a commodity, it is not inherently bullish, noting that real oil prices have historically traded within a consistent range. Furthermore, he challenged the notion of significant institutional ETH adoption, questioning whether large banks have purchased or announced plans to hold ETH on their balance sheets, concluding, "No."

Kang concluded his critique by suggesting that Ethereum's current valuation is sustained by "financial illiteracy" and broader macro liquidity, predicting "indefinite underperformance" without major organizational changes. Concurrently, on-chain data analyzed by Arkham indicates that Kang has doubled down on his Bitcoin optimism, making a second $100 million leveraged long bet, bringing his total position to $200 million and signaling confidence in a near-term Bitcoin rally.