A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, is emulating the accumulation strategy of its peer, Strategy. Led by Tom Lee, Bitmine purchased approximately $234 million worth of ether, comprising 101,901 tokens, in its largest weekly buy this year.
This move brings Bitmine's buying pace closer to Strategy's, which is led by Michael Saylor and has been consistently acquiring bitcoin. Notably, Strategy's purchases, excluding large buys fueled by at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock, typically range between $200 million and $300 million per week. Bitmine's recent purchase marks its largest weekly accumulation in 2026, following a four-month streak of increasing buys that started at around $76 million per week in early January. The firm now holds over 5 million ether tokens, representing about 4.21% of the second-largest cryptocurrency's circulating supply.
This development is significant as Bitmine is now the only other major corporate entity keeping pace with Strategy's crypto accumulation. Most digital asset treasury companies slowed or paused their accumulation during the February price drop, but Bitmine has continued its buying spree. Tom Lee's strategy is based on the notion that ether is in the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and that a bottom is forming in equity markets. Since pivoting to its current strategy in June 2025, Bitmine has reached the 5 million ether milestone in roughly 10 months, with about 73% of the tokens staked to generate annualized revenue from yield.
The firm's total crypto and cash holdings stood at $13.3 billion as of early April. Both Strategy and Bitmine employ capital markets activities, such as preferred stock and convertible debt for Strategy, and equity issuance for Bitmine, to purchase crypto assets. Despite facing pressure in February and early March due to nearly $8 billion in unrealized losses, Bitmine continued its buying strategy. Two months later, ether has risen 22% from its February lows, and Bitmine's accumulation pace has not only held but accelerated.
While Strategy's $2.54 billion purchase on April 21 remains the largest single corporate crypto buy this year, Bitmine's $234 million purchase last week brings the structural baselines of the two firms within striking distance of each other. If this pattern persists, ether may soon have a second major corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price.