A notable development is unfolding in the corporate cryptocurrency accumulation space. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, has made a significant purchase of 101,901 ether, valued at approximately $234 million. This acquisition marks the company's largest weekly purchase of the year and brings its buying pace closer to that of Strategy, a firm known for its regular bitcoin buys.
Strategy's typical weekly purchases range from $200 million to $300 million, excluding large buys fueled by at-the-market sales of its perpetual preferred stock. Bitmine's purchase caps a four-month streak of escalating buys, which began at around $76 million per week in early January. The company 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 during 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 about 73% of its tokens, generating roughly $264 million in annualized revenue from yield, with total crypto and cash holdings sitting at $13.3 billion as of early April.
Both Bitmine and Strategy employ similar capital markets strategies to purchase crypto assets, with Bitmine using equity issuance and Strategy utilizing preferred stock and convertible debt. Despite facing pressure in February and early March, Bitmine has maintained its buying pace, which has now accelerated.
If this trend continues, ether may soon have a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, akin to Strategy's bitcoin buying pace.