Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee has signaled that a prolonged slump in Ether is nearing its end, as the company disclosed a fresh purchase of 65,341 ETH tokens valued at approximately $139 million over the past week. The acquisition brings the firm’s total holdings to more than 4.6 million tokens. Lee made the remarks in a statement issued on Monday, noting that Bitmine has maintained an elevated buying pace over the past three weeks.
The broader crypto market entered a downturn in October of last year, with Bitcoin retreating from an all-time peak above $126,000 and Ether falling from an August high of $4,946. Analysts have since debated when a meaningful recovery might materialize. Lee described the end of this several-month slump as the company’s base-case expectation, pointing to a number of factors he believes support a turnaround.
Among the positive signals Lee cited is the advancement of the CLARITY Act in Congress, as well as crypto’s relative resilience during recent geopolitical tensions involving Iran. He noted that Ether has risen 18% since the Iran conflict began, outperforming equities by 2,450 basis points during that period. By contrast, Lee observed that gold, traditionally viewed as a safe-haven asset, has fallen more than 15% over the same stretch.
“Crypto is demonstrating itself to be a good ‘wartime’ store of value,” Lee said. He framed the divergence between crypto and gold as a meaningful shift in how markets are treating digital assets during periods of global instability. The comments reflect a broader argument that Ether and similar assets are gaining credibility as alternatives to conventional stores of value.
Bitmine’s current holdings represent approximately 3.86% of Ether’s total circulating supply of 120.6 million tokens, according to data from CoinGecko. The company has set a target of acquiring 5% of the total supply, which at current prices would require purchasing roughly an additional 1.4 million tokens at a cost of approximately $2.9 billion. Unlike Bitcoin, Ether does not have a fixed maximum supply, as its total can fluctuate depending on the balance between tokens issued and those burned.
Beyond its Ether position, Bitmine also reported holding $1.1 billion in cash, 196 Bitcoin, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries — a media company founded by YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson — and a $95 million stake in e-commerce inventory management platform Eightco Holdings. The firm has also committed heavily to staking, with more than three million of its Ether tokens currently staked.
A wave of companies shifted toward crypto treasury strategies in 2025, with Bitmine rising to become the second-largest corporate Ether holder behind Michael Saylor‘s Strategy. StrategicEthReserve currently tracks 67 large institutional Ether holders, with Bitmine leading by a considerable margin. SharpLink Gaming ranks second with 863,000 tokens, while Ether Machine holds third place with 496,000. Some analysts, including those at Standard Chartered, have cautioned that not all companies pursuing crypto treasury strategies will endure over the long term.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
