Tom Lee's investment firm, Bitmine, has significantly accelerated its accumulation of Ethereum (ETH), purchasing an additional 50,000 ETH worth $108.3 million from institutional crypto prime broker FalconX. This transaction is part of a broader, aggressive buying trend observed over a two-day period.
According to on-chain analytics, three newly created wallets likely tied to Bitmine acquired a total of 117,111 ETH, valued at approximately $253.3 million, in just 48 hours. This move underscores Bitmine's ongoing strategy to build one of the largest corporate ETH treasuries in the cryptocurrency market.
The buying spree was further highlighted by blockchain intelligence platform Arkham, which flagged a separate, unmarked wallet purchasing $106.98 million worth of ETH. Arkham noted that the purchase pattern—characterized by large, direct transactions clustered in specific time windows—closely matches Bitmine's prior behavior. While Arkham did not confirm the wallet's ownership, the pattern match suggests the transaction is likely Bitmine's, as deliberate imitation is considered less probable. The use of an unmarked address is consistent with institutional buyers seeking to accumulate assets without prematurely signaling their position to the market.
Bitmine's holdings recently crossed the $10 billion mark after a $140.74 million purchase in a single week, a figure that nearly doubled Michael Saylor's $75 million Bitcoin purchase over the same period. As of two days ago, the firm held $10.03 billion in ETH, representing 3.86% of the entire ETH supply, and had staked $200 million of its holdings for yield.
The firm's publicly stated near-term target is to reach 4% ownership of the ETH supply. To achieve this, Bitmine requires approximately $359 million more in ETH. The potential $107 million purchase flagged by Arkham would reduce this gap to around $252 million, significantly accelerating the timeline from the initial mid-April target.
This substantial institutional demand exists alongside a tense technical backdrop for Ethereum's price. The asset has been consolidating between $1,900 and $2,200 for weeks, with support at $1,900 and resistance at $2,150. On higher timeframes, the price action is forming what technical analysts identify as a bear flag, a pattern often preceding a move lower. The sustained, large-scale buying from entities like Bitmine represents a potent counterforce, absorbing supply and creating potential upward pressure on price, particularly if liquid supply becomes constrained.
