A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market is mirroring the investment strategy of the first. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, purchased approximately $234 million worth of ether, comprising 101,901 tokens, in its largest weekly acquisition of the year. This move brings Bitmine closer to Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led digital treasury firm, in terms of weekly bitcoin purchases, once Strategy's large at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock are factored out. Notably, Strategy's typical weekly buys range from $200 million to $300 million, excluding the massive bursts resulting from its STRC sales.
Bitmine's recent purchase capped a four-month streak of escalating buys, starting with roughly $76 million per week in early January, and now holds over 5 million tokens, equivalent to about 4.21% of the circulating supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency. This development is significant as Bitmine emerges as the only major corporate crypto buyer to keep pace with Strategy.
Most digital asset treasury companies slowed or paused accumulation during the February price drop, while Strategy itself ended a 13-week buying streak in late March before resuming in April. Tom Lee's strategy is based on the premise that ether is in the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and that equity markets are forming a bottom. Since pivoting to its current strategy in June 2025, Bitmine has reached the 5 million ETH milestone in roughly 10 months, with about 73% of those tokens staked to generate approximately $264 million in annualized revenue from yield.
The firm's total crypto and cash holdings stood at $13.3 billion as of early April. Both firms employ a similar approach to capital markets activity, with Strategy using preferred stock and convertible debt, and Bitmine using equity issuance, to purchase crypto assets. Despite facing pressure in February and early March due to nearly $8 billion in unrealized losses, Bitmine continued buying and has since seen ether rise 22% from its February lows, with its accumulation pace not only holding but accelerating. If this pattern persists, ether will have a corporate buyer equivalent to Strategy, consistently absorbing supply each week regardless of price.