A second major company is emerging as a significant accumulator of digital currency, mirroring the actions of a pioneer in the field. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, recently acquired 101,901 ether, valued at approximately $234 million. This purchase is comparable to the regular weekly buys made by Strategy, a company led by Michael Saylor that specializes in digital treasury management, as noted by prominent crypto trader Luke Martin.
Strategy's typical weekly purchases range from $200 million to $300 million, excluding large buys fueled by the sale of its perpetual preferred stock, STRC. The recent purchase by Bitmine marks its largest weekly accumulation of 2026, capping a four-month streak of escalating buys that began at around $76 million per week in early January. The company now holds over 5 million tokens, representing about 4.21% of the circulating supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency.
This development is significant because Bitmine is now the only major corporate crypto buyer keeping pace with Strategy. Most digital asset treasury companies have paused or slowed their accumulation due to the February price drop, but Bitmine has continued to buy, with Lee attributing this to his belief that ETH is in the late stages of a 'mini-crypto winter' and that a bottom is forming in equity markets. The company has staked about 73% of its tokens, generating approximately $264 million in annualized revenue from yield, with total crypto and cash holdings valued at $13.3 billion as of early April.
Both Bitmine and Strategy employ a similar strategy of capital markets activity to purchase crypto assets. Despite facing pressure in February and early March, Bitmine maintained its buying pace, and two months later, ether has risen 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 $234 million purchase last week marks the first time the structural baselines of the two companies have come close to each other. If this pattern continues, ether may experience a new development: a corporate buyer absorbing supply each week, regardless of price, similar to Strategy's approach to bitcoin.