A second major corporate player in the cryptocurrency market, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, is emulating the buying patterns of its counterpart, Strategy. Led by Tom Lee, Bitmine purchased 101,901 ether, valued at approximately $234 million, marking its largest weekly buy this year.
This development brings Bitmine's buying pace closer to that of Strategy, which regularly accumulates 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 recent purchase capped a four-month streak of escalating buys, which began at around $76 million per week in early January, and the firm now holds over 5 million tokens, equivalent to about 4.21% of the circulating supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency. This trend is significant, as Bitmine is now the only major corporate crypto buyer keeping pace with Strategy.
Most digital asset treasury companies halted or slowed their accumulation following the February price drop, but Bitmine has continued to buy, with Lee attributing this to his belief that the cryptocurrency market 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 staked around 73% of its tokens, generating approximately $264 million in annualized revenue from yield, with total crypto and cash holdings reaching $13.3 billion as of early April. Both firms employ similar capital markets strategies, such as preferred stock and convertible debt for Strategy, and equity issuance for Bitmine, to purchase crypto assets.
Despite facing pressure in February and early March due to unrealized losses, Bitmine continued to buy, and its accumulation pace has not only held but also accelerated, with ether rising 22% from its February lows. While Strategy's April 21 purchase of $2.54 billion remains the largest single corporate crypto buy of the year, Bitmine's recent $234 million purchase marks the first time the structural baselines of the two firms have come close to each other. If this pattern continues, ether may experience a new phenomenon: a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, similar to Strategy's bitcoin buys.