Tom Lee Calls Crypto a “Coiled Spring.” Which Coins Have Pulled Back the Most?
Fundstrat's Tom Lee sees a compressed spring ready to release in the crypto market, but not every coin qualifies. Some pullbacks look like buying opportunities while others hint at something more troubling.
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Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee described the cryptocurrency market as “a coiled spring.” He believes that while prices have dipped, the reasons to invest in these assets remain strong. A coiled spring holds energy when compressed, and Lee sees the latest crypto pullback as a similar situation.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) is trading at about $81,497, down 3.6% over the past two weeks but up 7.8% over the last 30 days. Bitcoin hit the lower end of its trading range on October 14 after investors grew more cautious.
So, which major coins have pulled back the most, and which declines might be a temporary pause in an upward trend?
Tom Lee Says Crypto Has Pulled Back to Support Levels
Lee compares cryptocurrencies to chip stocks and AI cloud companies, suggesting that all three are like a coiled spring if their underlying fundamentals remain sound. He notes that these assets have “pulled back to support levels.” A support level is a price point where previous buyers stepped in, often stalling price declines.
Lee emphasizes that when strong fundamentals persist and market sentiment turns sour, investors get a favorable risk-reward scenario. This means the potential upside outweighs the possible downsides. Market fear can quickly drive prices down, creating a buying opportunity for those with a more optimistic view.
Fundstrat strategist Mark Newton has taken this analysis a step further, suggesting the market could bottom out within a few days. While Lee did not specify a price target for any coin, he has suggested that Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) is nearing the end of its prolonged decline against Bitcoin.
Hedera Leads Seven Coins in Two-Week Losses
Among the top coins, Hedera (CRYPTO:HBAR) has seen the largest decline, dropping 17.8% in the last two weeks. This pullback follows a substantial 27% jump after an IBM cloud announcement on September 28. The table below shows prices as of October 16, including Bitcoin and Ethereum for comparison.
| Coin | Price (Oct. 16) | 14-Day Change | 30-Day Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hedera | $0.0833 | -17.8% | +14.9% |
| Uniswap | $7.27 | -17.3% | +14.3% |
| Stellar | $0.18 | -15.3% | +1.0% |
| Litecoin | $59 | -14.0% | +17.1% |
| Aave | $154 | -13.5% | +32.5% |
| Ethereum (benchmark) | $2,416 | -9.3% | +1.3% |
| Bitcoin (benchmark) | $81,431 | -3.6% | +7.8% |
All seven coins in this analysis lost value over the past 24 hours, with smaller coins typically showing steeper declines during a pullback. Bitcoin’s relatively mild 3.6% two-week drop stands out compared to the larger decreases observed in Uniswap (CRYPTO:UNI), Stellar (CRYPTO:XLM), Litecoin (CRYPTO:LTC), and Aave (CRYPTO:AAVE).
Despite these pullbacks, all seven coins posted positive returns over the past 30 days, as most losses followed a strong price surge from September into October.
Aave’s Drop Looks Like a Reset, While Stellar’s Looks Weaker
Aave, a lending protocol that facilitates borrowing and lending of cryptocurrencies, displays a chart that most suggests a reset. The coin fell 13.5% over the past two weeks but remains up 32.5% over 30 days, indicating that this drop is likely profit-taking during an upward trend.
Litecoin, Hedera, and Uniswap show similar patterns; each has given back only part of its monthly gains, with Litecoin up 17.1%, Hedera 14.9%, and Uniswap 14.3%.
Conversely, Stellar appears to have a weaker outlook. XLM has dropped 15.3% over two weeks and has only gained 1.0% this month, trading 79.4% below its all-time high of $0.88 in January 2018.
Ethereum mirrors this trend, with little room left to run, posting a 1.3% monthly gain and trading 51.1% below its previous peak of $4,946 from August 2025. Bitcoin is also well below its high, down 35.4% from its October 2025 record of $126,080.
Is Crypto a Coiled Spring, as Tom Lee Suggests?
In the current crypto pullback, Lee’s description seems to fit Aave, Litecoin, Hedera, and Uniswap more than Stellar or Ethereum. The first four have experienced pullbacks after strong monthly performance, suggesting their declines could be a temporary correction in a rising trend. In contrast, Stellar and Ethereum show diminishing momentum, indicating their drops might signal a weakening trend.
Ultimately, Bitcoin could steer the altcoins. Historically, altcoins tend to rally only after Bitcoin makes a move, and Bitcoin has recorded only two down months in October since 2013. If Bitcoin can hold its October 16 low of $80,761 and Aave rises above $165, Lee’s theory may hold true. However, if Bitcoin falls below $80,761 and Stellar’s 30-day gain turns negative, the coiled spring may only apply to a select few coins.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
