Bitmine Now Holds 5.54 million ETH After Record Weekly Purchase

Ethereum has lost more than 65 % since its August 2025 record. Bitmine already shows about 9 billion dollars in unrealized losses. And yet, Tom Lee’s company has just made its biggest weekly ETH purchase of the entire year 2026. A conviction that demands respect, or raises concern.

Buy when everyone else is selling

Bitmine acquired 126,971 ETH last week, about 214 million dollars at current prices — its largest weekly purchase in 2026 — after only 26,497 tokens the previous week. The turnaround is all the more striking since Tom Lee himself had called to slow down purchases a few weeks earlier, as the company approached its goal of holding 5% of the total Ethereum supply. The firm now holds 5.54 million ETH, or 4.59% of the circulating supply, with total assets — crypto, cash, and holdings — amounting to 9.9 billion dollars, according to data published by CoinDesk. Tom Lee’s justification is straightforward: “We increased our purchases because we believe this ETH price pullback does not reflect the strengthening fundamentals of Ethereum.”

The context makes this decision particularly bold. Bitmine’s average acquisition cost is around 3,513 dollars per ETH, a level far above current prices, exposing the company to an unrealized loss estimated at 7.35 billion dollars. This portfolio has become a real-world test for crypto treasury strategies: as long as the ETH is not sold, the loss remains accounting. However, it weighs heavily on market perception and shareholders’ views.

The Saylor model applied to Ethereum with all its risks

To finance this accumulation, Bitmine has replicated the financing scheme that Strategy made popular: a perpetual preferred shares offering at 9.5% annual dividend, aiming to raise up to 300 million dollars. However, this model faces increasing scrutiny from investors, who question the ability of crypto treasury companies to honor their dividend obligations in a sharply declining market. Strategy’s preferred stock STRC has thus fallen to 90 dollars, 10% below its nominal value, a tangible sign of this mistrust. The same questions could quickly arise for Bitmine if Ethereum continues its decline.

What distinguishes Bitmine from most of its competitors, however, is its treasury productivity. About 85% of the held ETH are placed in staking, generating more than 300 million dollars in annualized revenue — nearly 1 million dollars per day — a liquidity source that significantly reduces the pressure to sell during high volatility phases. The question is therefore not one of Tom Lee’s conviction — it is real, documented, and consistent for months. It’s about his endurance over time. Bitmine remains one of the rare large treasury companies still in active accumulation mode, while most of its peers have suspended their purchases and have pivoted to selling. Visionary bet or off-cycle recklessness: the answer will depend on Ethereum’s next move.

Conviction or stubbornness : the market will decide

The history of markets is full of investors who were right too early — and did not survive the wait. Tom Lee knows this better than anyone: his reputation was built on contrarian calls, sometimes brilliant, sometimes painful. What is certain is that Bitmine is not playing short-term. With 85% of its ETH staked, recurring revenues exceeding one million dollars per day, and a financing structure modeled on Strategy’s, the company has built an architecture designed to withstand pressure, not to avoid it. However, the market does not always have the patience for long convictions.

If Ethereum does not regain significantly higher levels by the end of the year, the question of Bitmine’s business model will arise with increasing urgency. For now, Tom Lee has chosen to respond to the downturn by buying.