Beaten-down cryptocurrency ether is about to 'rally strongly,' says Wall Street'

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• Ether has lost 70 percent of its value this year but Wall Street’s biggest crypto bull says it’s “about to rally strongly.”
• Fundstrat's Tom Lee says the past four out of four times ether underperformed other cryptocurrencies by two standard deviations, it saw a"major trend reversal."
• It was one of the best performing cryptocurrencies last year but ether struggled from a lack of confidence in its technology roadmap, increased competition, and “panic selling.”

Ether has had a tough year. But it's not too late for a comeback, according to bitcoin bull Tom Lee.

The world's second-largest digital asset is down more than 70 percent since January and can't seem to find its footing after a breakout 2017. In the past three months alone it has dropped 50 percent and largely underperformed other top cryptocurrencies, according to data from CoinDesk.

The last four out of four times it lagged its peers that badly, by two standard deviations, Lee said ether saw a "major trend reversal."

"We believe Ethereum is about to stage a trend reversal and rally strongly," Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in a note to clients Thursday.

Ether was the star cryptocurrency last year, way outperforming its predecessor bitcoin but 2018 has been a different story. Investor patience is wearing thin — mainstream adoption isn't here yet, folks can now short the market, and blockchain competitors like EOS are gunning to be the top platform for developers.

Lee meanwhile "believes sentiment is currently overly negative on ETH." While it has underperformed its peers by two standard deviations, Lee said that's "a sign of capitulation."

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