Bitmine's Relentless Ethereum Buying Is About to End, Tom Lee Says

In brief

• Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said at Token2049 the company will stop buying Ethereum once it holds 5% of circulating supply.
• Bitmine holds 6,016,414 ETH (about 4.9% of supply) and has bought weekly since June 2025, providing steady demand whose end removes a persistent buyer.
• The firm sits on roughly $4.5 billion in unrealized losses, having accumulated much of its stash at higher bull-market prices.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies is about to take its foot off the gas. Chairman Tom Lee said the company will halt its Ethereum buying once its holdings reach 5% of the token's circulating supply, drawing a hard line under one of the market's steadiest sources of demand.

Speaking Wednesday at the Token2049 conference in Singapore, Lee said the company is roughly 100,000 ETH away from the threshold. At last week's pace, that's about six to seven more weeks of accumulation before Bitmine stops.

"We thought this would take five years," Lee said on stage. "It took us a little over a year. More importantly, we did this all in the middle of a bear market,” he said. “Now we’re going to stop.”

The NYSE-listed firm is the world's largest Ethereum treasury company, holding 6,016,414 ETH, or about 4.9% of supply, as of its latest disclosure. Bitmine added roughly $41 million in ETH just last week as it closed in on the goal it brands the "Alchemy of 5%." (Disclosure: Tom Lee is one of several investors in Dastan, Decrypt’s parent company.)