A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market is emerging with a buying strategy similar to that of the first. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, purchased 101,901 ether worth approximately $234 million, marking its largest weekly purchase this year. This move brings Bitmine's buying pace closer to that of Strategy, the digital treasury company led by Michael Saylor, which regularly buys bitcoin valued between $200 million and $300 million.
The comparison excludes Strategy's large purchases fueled by at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock, STRC. Bitmine's purchase capped a four-month streak of increasing buys, starting with roughly $76 million per week in early January, and now holds over 5 million tokens, representing about 4.21% of the second-largest cryptocurrency's circulating supply. This development is significant as Bitmine is now the only major corporate crypto buyer keeping pace with Strategy.
Most digital asset treasury companies paused or slowed accumulation during the February price drop, but Bitmine continued its buying streak, with Lee framing the buying pace as a response to the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and a forming bottom in equity markets. The firm has staked about 73% of its tokens, generating roughly $264 million in annualized revenue from yield, with total crypto and cash holdings at $13.3 billion as of early April. Both firms employ similar capital markets strategies, 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 with nearly $8 billion in unrealized losses, Bitmine continued buying, and its accumulation pace has not only held but accelerated. If this pattern continues, ether may see a Strategy-equivalent corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, for the first time.