Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee says Ether’s “mini-crypto winter” may be winding down after the firm bought another $139 million of ETH, moving closer to its goal of holding 5% of the token’s circulating supply.
Lee said Bitmine has kept a higher buying pace over the past three weeks, treating the end of a several-month Ether slump as its base case. The crypto markets crashed in October last year, with Bitcoin falling from its all-time peak above $126,000 that month and Ether sliding from its August high of $4,946, prompting debate about when a meaningful rebound will occur.
Lee pointed to positive catalysts such as the CLARITY Act advancing in Congress and crypto’s relative stability amid recent turmoil in Iran as signs the downturn is easing. “As many have noticed, crypto and particularly ETH have outperformed the broader market since the Iran war commenced, with ETH rising 18% and outperforming equities by 2,450 basis points,” he said. “This is a marked contrast to Gold, a traditional store of value, which has fallen more than 15%. Crypto is demonstrating itself to be a good ‘wartime’ store of value.”
After its latest purchase, Bitmine disclosed it added 65,341 Ether in the past week (about $139 million), taking total holdings to more than 4.6 million ETH.
Bitmine has accumulated roughly 3.86% of the total circulating supply of 120.6 million since announcing its crypto pivot eight months ago. To hit its 5% goal based on current supply, the company would need about 1.4 million more tokens, which at current prices would cost roughly $2.9 billion, per CoinGecko. Ether’s supply is not fixed and can rise or fall depending on issuance versus burns.
The firm has also committed heavily to staking, with over three million of its Ether currently staked. Other reported assets include $1.1 billion in cash, 196 Bitcoin, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries (the media company founded by YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson) and a $95 million stake in e-commerce inventory platform Eightco Holdings.
A wave of companies pivoted to crypto in 2025, and Bitmine rose to the second-largest holder behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy by holdings. Some firms may not survive long-term, analysts say, potentially forcing strategy changes or exits.
StrategicEthReserve is tracking 67 large Ether treasury holders, with Bitmine leading by a wide margin. SharpLink Gaming—previously the top holder—is second with 863,000 ETH, while Ether Machine ranks third with 496,000 tokens.
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