Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said the probability of an Ethereum funding “crisis” was zero and added that “the funding is in place.” He was responding to Ethereum core developer Trent Van Epps, who warned of a critical institutional turning point involving legitimacy allocation, governance evolution and a potential protocol funding crisis. Separate data cited in the story showed Bitmine has been increasing its Ethereum holdings weekly and now holds more than 5.62 million ETH. The disagreement highlights a closely watched issue for Ethereum because sustained funding and governance legitimacy shape how the network maintains its core software and coordinates future upgrades.