James Wo, CEO of crypto investment firm DFG, publicly disagreed with analyst Tom Lee’s $250,000 ether price prediction on Friday, arguing that bitcoin has achieved institutional consensus and safe-haven status that ether is unlikely to match.
Speaking at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris on June 6, Wo said ether faces structural headwinds from Layer-2 network competition that prevent it from capturing sufficient value to justify Lee’s forecast. Ether was trading near $1,775 at the time of writing, while bitcoin hovered around $63,000.
“I totally disagree with him,” Wo said of Lee’s prediction. “Bitcoin has a very strong consensus. If you talk to everyone who is an early backer, they believe in bitcoin. Now, beyond the early backing of bitcoin, all the people in crypto, and also traditional finance people, are trying to recognize bitcoin as a safe haven or asset class. I don’t think Ethereum is there yet.”
Wo’s skepticism of ether centers on how Layer-2 networks now capture fee value independently from the Ethereum mainnet. “The value of ether has been more diversified or decentralized,” he said. “The Ethereum token as a whole is not going to capture a lot of value. Onchain activity is not as big as people expected. I don’t think Ethereum will even hit an all-time high. I think bitcoin will perform well, but not Ethereum.”
His critique aligns with comments from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in February 2026, who suggested Layer-2 networks may “no longer make sense” as Ethereum becomes faster and cheaper, potentially reshaping how transaction fees flow through the protocol.
Wo’s bullish bitcoin thesis rests on institutional adoption and macroeconomic positioning. “I firmly believe this is going to outperform the Chinese stock market and also the U.S. stock market,” he said. “Bitcoin in any aspect you can think of from the investment angle, liquidity is the best in the world.”
DFG, which Wo founded, manages over $1 billion in total assets under management across more than 100 portfolio entities. The firm’s bitcoin conviction traces to Wo’s early entry into the sector. In 2014, while studying mathematics at university, Wo watched classmates trade bitcoin during the bear market. His mother, who managed an established enterprise and private equity firm in China, provided $20 million in initial capital. “At the beginning, I don’t think she trusted me. What is bitcoin? She has no idea,” Wo recalled. His mother ultimately backed the bet: “Okay, so I’m going to support you anyway.”
Wo deployed that capital into bitcoin at market lows in late 2014 and 2015. DFG later diversified into alternative layer-1 protocols including Solana, Polkadot, and Near during the 2016 bull market. In January 2018, the firm allocated $10 million to Circle’s USDC stablecoin project.
On price targets, Wo expects bitcoin to correct 50% from current levels, with a bottom around $60,000 to $62,000. He projects a peak of $125,000, which he believes will materialize in 2027 or 2028. “At the peak, we have somehow like $125,000. I believe we will see an all-time high in 2027 or 2028,” he said.
Wo’s rejection of Lee’s ether forecast reflects a broader debate within the crypto industry about how protocol economics and Layer-2 scaling reshape token value accrual. While Buterin’s February comments suggest the Ethereum community is reconsidering Layer-2 permanence, Wo’s position is that structural changes to fee capture have already diminished ether’s long-term upside relative to bitcoin’s institutional moat.
