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, has purchased 101,901 ether worth approximately $234 million, marking its largest weekly buy this year. This move brings Bitmine's accumulation pace closer to that of Strategy, a firm led by Michael Saylor, which regularly buys bitcoin.
Notably, Strategy's purchases, excluding large buys fueled by at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock, typically range from $200 million to $300 million per week. Bitmine's purchase caps a four-month streak of escalating buys, which started at around $76 million per week in early January, and the firm 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 slowed or paused accumulation following the February price drop, but Bitmine has continued to buy, 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 approximately 73% of its tokens, generating around $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, such as equity issuance and convertible debt, to purchase crypto assets.
Despite facing pressure in February and early March, Bitmine has maintained its buying pace, with ether prices up 22% from their February lows. If this pattern continues, ether may see a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, for the first time.