A significant on-chain transaction involving 40,000 Ethereum (ETH) valued at approximately $82 million has sparked market speculation and been linked to a major corporate accumulation strategy. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, a whale wallet identified as "0x978…b67a7" withdrew the ETH from the institutional crypto platform FalconX. This wallet now holds a cumulative 40,000 ETH worth $82.1 million.
The transaction pattern was noted for its similarity to known purchase patterns of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, leading to speculation that the move was orchestrated by Bitmine's executive chairman, Tom Lee. This speculation was later confirmed by corporate filings.
Bitmine officially disclosed in an SEC-filed Exhibit 99.1 dated February 9, 2026, that it had acquired 40,613 ETH in the prior week. This brought the company's total Ethereum treasury holdings to 4,325,738 ETH, valued at roughly $9.2 billion based on ETH trading near $2,059.54 at the time. A previous filing from February 2 showed holdings of 4,285,125 ETH, confirming the week-over-week increase of 40,613 tokens.
In the filing, Tom Lee framed the purchase as a strategic response to a prolonged price pullback. "Bitmine has been steadily buying Ethereum, as we view this pullback as attractive," Lee stated. He noted that ETH had declined 62% from its 2025 highs, a drawdown he characterized as disconnected from the network's underlying fundamentals, which he cited as including 2.5 million daily transactions and one million daily active addresses.
Lee also predicted a V-shaped recovery for Ethereum in 2026. The move positions Bitmine as one of the most aggressive public-company accumulators of ETH and represents a notable deployment of the firm's $595 million in available cash amid tightening macro financial conditions.
