A notable trend is emerging in the world of corporate cryptocurrency accumulation, as Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, is now mirroring the investment strategy of Strategy, the pioneering digital treasury company headed by Michael Saylor. Bitmine's recent purchase of 101,901 ether, valued at approximately $234 million, represents its largest weekly acquisition of 2026 and underscores the firm's escalating buying spree over the past four months. This development is significant, as it brings Bitmine's accumulation pace in line with Strategy's regular weekly purchases, which range from $200 million to $300 million, excluding large buys fueled by at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock, STRC. By stripping out these outliers, it becomes clear that Bitmine is now the only major corporate crypto buyer keeping pace with Strategy.
Most digital asset treasury companies paused or slowed their accumulation efforts during the February price drop, which saw bitcoin fall to the mid-$60,000s and ether dip below $1,900. In contrast, Bitmine has continued to accelerate its buying pace, now holding over 5 million tokens, or roughly 4.21% of the second-largest cryptocurrency's circulating supply. Lee attributes the buying pace to the notion that ETH 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 ETH milestone in approximately 10 months, with about 73% of those tokens staked to generate roughly $264 million in annualized revenue from yield. The firm's total crypto and cash holdings stood at $13.3 billion as of early April, demonstrating its significant commitment to the space.
Both Bitmine and Strategy employ a similar playbook of capital markets activity, utilizing preferred stock and convertible debt or equity issuance to purchase crypto assets. Despite facing pressure in February and early March, when the firm was sitting on nearly $8 billion in unrealized losses against $16 billion in total purchases, Bitmine continued to buy. Two months later, ether has surged 22% from its February lows, and Bitmine's accumulation pace has not only held but accelerated.
While Strategy's April 21 purchase of $2.54 billion remains the largest single corporate crypto buy of the year, Bitmine's $234 million purchase last week marks the first time the structural baselines of the two firms have come within striking distance of each other. If this pattern holds for another month, ether will have a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, for the first time.