BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the largest Ethereum-focused digital asset, stepped up its crypto-buying pace as chairman Tom Lee sees growing signs that the crypto “mini-winter” is coming to an end.
The firm reported on Monday that it acquired 101,627 ether (ETH) last week, its biggest weekly move since December 15. The purchase, worth about $230 million at current ETH prices, lifted BitMine’s total holdings to 4.97 million ETH.
The move comes as most Treasuries — except for Michael Saylor’s bitcoin-focused strategy ( MSTR ) — have slowed or stopped buying in recent months. BitMine remains among the last large-scale buyers of ether-focused government bonds and continues to provide a steady source of demand for ETH.
BitMine’s total crypto and cash holdings stand at $12.9 billion. In addition to its ETH coffers, the firm holds 199 bitcoin, $1.12 billion in cash and equity holdings including investments in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.
Chairman Thomas Lee said the firm sees signs that the recent downturn is coming to an end, pointing to ETH’s recovery and broader market dynamics.
“Bitmine has maintained the increased pace of ETH purchases in each of the past four weeks as our base case ETH is in the final stages of the ‘mini-crypto winter,'” Lee said.
He added that ether has rallied sharply from its early February lows and has outperformed stocks since the start of the Iran conflict, supported by demand tied to tokenization and AI-related use cases.
BitMine has also continued to expand its stake activities. The firm has staked more than 3.3 million ETH, or about two-thirds of its holdings, and generates about $221 million in annual revenue.
