CoinDesk
Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) purchased 71,672 ETH last week, worth about $154 million, a sharp acceleration from the prior week's 26,000-token haul and a direct reversal of Chairman Tom Lee's recent signal that accumulation would slow. Lee framed the buy as opportunistic, calling ETH's drop below $2,200 "an attractive opportunity" and pointing to surging crude as the dominant near-term headwind for the second-largest crypto.
Why it matters
Lee has spent the last week arguing that ETH's correlation to oil has flipped to its most inverse reading on record, with the past six weeks of rising crude coinciding with falling ether prices. His thesis — "oil reversing = ETH prices recovering" — reframes the macro driver of crypto risk-off flows away from rate expectations and toward the energy complex. For an institutional reader, that's a sharper lens than the usual "macro is heavy" framing: it puts a specific commodity signal at the center of the ETH tape rather than the BTC tape, where oil has historically been a weaker correlate.
The buy is also a credibility test for the Ethereum-treasury thesis. Bitmine had telegraphed a slower pace, and the 71,672-ETH reload is the kind of contrarian add that either validates the "accumulate through weakness" playbook or sets up a slower-burn accumulation schedule if oil stays bid. Bitmine is one of the few large digital-assity treasuries still buying through the downturn alongside Michael Saylor's Strategy, and each weekly print is being read as a temperature check on the broader corporate-treasury cohort.
Market impact
The purchase lifts Bitmine's holdings to roughly 5.28 million ETH, or about 4.37% of Ethereum's circulating supply, with total crypto and cash reserves of $12.6 billion — including 202 BTC, $685 million in cash, and equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings (ORBS). At a $154 million weekly clip, Bitmine is now moving meaningful single-week supply relative to typical spot ETH exchange volumes, which gives the firm's bid a price-influencing footprint that smaller treasuries lack.
Frequently asked questions
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How much ETH did Bitmine buy last week?
Bitmine Immersion purchased 71,672 ETH last week, worth about $154 million, up sharply from the prior week's 26,000-token haul.
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Why did Tom Lee tie ETH's pullback to oil prices?
Lee argued ETH's inverse correlation to oil is the highest on record, with the past six weeks of rising crude coinciding with falling ether prices — his line: "oil reversing = ETH prices recovering."
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How much ETH does Bitmine hold in total?
The latest purchase lifted Bitmine's holdings to roughly 5.28 million ETH, or about 4.37% of Ethereum's circulating supply, with total crypto and cash reserves of $12.6 billion.
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Did Bitmine reverse its accumulation guidance?
Yes. Lee had recently signaled the firm would slow ETH purchases, but the 71,672-ETH weekly buy — up from 26,000 the prior week — directly contradicts that guidance and frames the dip as opportunistic.
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How does Bitmine compare to other crypto treasury firms?
Bitmine is one of the few large digital-asset treasuries still actively accumulating through the downturn, alongside Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR), giving its weekly prints outsized signal value for the corporate-treasury cohort.
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