A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market is emulating the accumulation strategy of a pioneer in the field. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, has acquired 101,901 ether, valued at approximately $234 million, in its most substantial weekly purchase this year.
This move was highlighted by prominent crypto trader Luke Martin and brings Bitmine's purchases closer to those of Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led digital treasury company, which regularly buys between $200 million to $300 million worth of bitcoin per week, excluding large purchases fueled by its perpetual preferred stock, STRC. The STRC spikes, which occur sporadically, are not representative of the company's standard buying pattern.
Bitmine's recent purchase marks its largest weekly accumulation in 2026, culminating a four-month streak of increasing buys that began at around $76 million per week in early January. The firm now holds over 5 million tokens, equivalent to approximately 4.21% of the circulating supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency. This development is significant because Bitmine is now the only major corporate buyer keeping pace with Strategy's accumulation.
Most digital asset treasury companies have paused or slowed their accumulation since the February price drop, which saw bitcoin fall to the mid-$60,000s and ether drop below $1,900. Strategy itself ended a 13-week bitcoin buying streak in late March before resuming in April.
Tom Lee's perspective on the buying pace is that ether is in the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and a bottom is forming in equity markets. Bitmine shifted its strategy in June 2025 and reached the 5 million ETH milestone in roughly 10 months. The firm has staked about 73% of these tokens, generating around $264 million in annualized revenue from yield. As of early April, the company's total crypto and cash holdings stood at $13.3 billion.
Both firms employ a similar strategy of capital markets activity to purchase crypto assets, with Strategy using preferred stock and convertible debt, and Bitmine utilizing equity issuance. Bitmine's strategy faced pressure in February and early March, when the company was sitting on nearly $8 billion in unrealized losses against $16 billion in total purchases.
However, the firm continued to buy, and two months later, ether has risen 22% from its February lows, and Bitmine's accumulation pace has not only held but accelerated. Strategy's $2.54 billion purchase on April 21 remains the largest single corporate crypto buy of the year, but Bitmine's $234 million purchase last week is the first time the structural baselines of the two companies have come within striking distance of each other.
If this pattern continues for another month, ether will have a corporate buyer equivalent to Strategy, absorbing supply each week regardless of price.