Ethereum could soon follow Bitcoin in losing its most consistent institutional buyer as Bitmine Immersion Technologies disclosed it now controls roughly 4.8% of all ETH in circulation. The Nasdaq-listed firm added only 7,391 ETH, worth about $14.2 million, last week, marking its smallest weekly purchase in 2026 and extending a 58-week buying streak at a sharply reduced pace. Earlier in the year, Bitmine was regularly purchasing more than 100,000 ETH per week.
Arkham Intelligence data shows the company is about 96% of the way to its stated 5% target. The latest disclosure also revealed Bitmine staked roughly $289.4 million worth of ETH over the past week, bringing its staked position to about 4.2% of Ethereum’s total supply. More than 5 million ETH are staked through its MAVAN validator network, generating projected annualized staking income of around $257 million at a 2.63% yield.
Meanwhile, Michael Saylor’s Strategy has stopped buying Bitcoin since June and has instead been selling BTC to buy back its STRC preferred shares. Strategy used $108.6 million from Bitcoin sales last week for buybacks, following a prior sale of 1,638 BTC for about $104.7 million. Bitmine has also repurchased 19.1 million BMNR shares since July, including 3 million shares last week for about $50 million to $58 million.
Arkham outlined three possible paths for Bitmine: push past 5% and keep buying, continue tapering, or stop entirely once the target is reached. The last scenario could remove the largest corporate Ether buyer from the demand side and weigh on short-term bullish sentiment. Ether traded near $1,903, while total Ethereum staking stood above 41 million ETH, about 34% of supply.
