Rising oil prices have become the biggest near-term headwind for Ethereum price, according to Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee
Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee says Ethereum‘s latest weakness has less to do with crypto drama.
In an X thread on May 18, Lee said rising oil prices are the “biggest headwind” for Ethereum, adding that ETH▲$1,718.54’s inverse correlation to oil is now the highest on record. He also attached a chart showing that Ethereum’s price has been moving in the opposite direction of WTI crude futures over the past six weeks.
As of press time, Ethereum is trading around $2,076 and is down about 5% over the past 30 days, per data from CoinGecko. Meanwhile, crude oil is trading above $110 as Iran war tensions continue to pressure energy markets.
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Oil Move Isn’t the Whole Story
Lee didn’t present the oil link as a long-term bearish call. Instead, he called it “short-term tactical noise,” adding that Ethereum’s bigger drivers remain tokenization and agentic AI.
If oil reverses lower, Lee implies that ETH could recover as the inflation and liquidity pressure eases.
Still, correlation can explain the pressure, but it doesn’t seem to prove oil alone caused Ethereum’s problems. Data from SoSoValue shows that Ethereum spot ETFs saw over $255 million in net outflows over the past week, including more than $130.6 million on May 12 and over $65.6 million on May 15.
Meanwhile, Brent climbed 7.84% and WTI rose 10.48%, with Brent settling at $109.26 and WTI at $105.42 as U.S.-Iran tensions hit hopes for a deal around the Strait of Hormuz.
Read more: JPMorgan: Ethereum and Altcoins Will Continue to Lag Behind Bitcoin
