A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market is mirroring the buying strategy of a leading player. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Tom Lee, purchased approximately $234 million worth of ether, comprising 101,901 tokens, in its largest weekly buy this year.
This move brings Bitmine's buying pace closer to that of Strategy, a company known for its regular weekly bitcoin purchases, which typically range from $200 million to $300 million, excluding large purchases driven by sales of its perpetual preferred stock, STRC. Bitmine's purchase marks the end of a four-month streak of escalating buys, which started at around $76 million per week in January, and now holds over 5 million tokens, accounting for about 4.21% of the circulating supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency. This development is significant as Bitmine is now the only major corporate buyer keeping pace with Strategy's bitcoin accumulation. Most digital asset treasury companies paused or slowed their accumulation following the February price drop, but Bitmine has continued to buy, with Lee suggesting that the market is in the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and that a bottom is forming in equity markets.
The firm has staked around 73% of its tokens, generating approximately $264 million in annualized revenue from yield, with total crypto and cash holdings amounting to $13.3 billion as of early April. Both Strategy and Bitmine employ a similar approach to capital markets activity to purchase crypto assets, with Strategy using preferred stock and convertible debt, and Bitmine using equity issuance.
Despite facing pressure in February and March, Bitmine continued to buy, and its accumulation pace has not only held but accelerated, with ether rising 22% from its February lows. While Strategy's $2.54 billion purchase in April remains the largest single corporate crypto buy this year, Bitmine's recent $234 million purchase brings the structural baselines of the two firms within striking distance of each other, potentially signaling a new era for ether with a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price.