Bitmine Invests $75 Million in Ether, Tom Lee Highlights Institutional Crypto Underweight

FinanceBitmine has made a significant move by acquiring $75 million worth of ether, as Tom Lee points out that institutional investors are still not fully invested in cryptocurrencies.

Continued Accumulation by the Leading Ethereum Treasury Firm Amid Optimism for Institutional Investment Growth

By Krisztian Sandor|Edited by Aoyon Ashraf49 minutes ago2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on

Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine and cofounder of Fundstrat, speaking at Consensus 2026 in Miami (CoinDesk)SummaryShow

• Last week, Bitmine acquired 27,562 ETH, totaling around $75.2 million based on Monday’s price of $2,727, continuing its buying trend.
• Chairman Tom Lee noted that institutional investors are still "underweighted" in crypto and anticipates an increase in their exposure in the last quarter of 2026.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies BMNR$27.32, recognized as the largest Ethereum treasury firm, acquired another 27,562 ether

ETH$2,716.16 last week, continuing its steady purchasing pattern as Tom Lee stated that institutional investors have not adequately invested in crypto.

The acquisition, valued at approximately $75.2 million at Monday's ether price of $2,727, raises Bitmine's total holdings to 5,983,940 ETH, which represents around 4.9% of the total 122.1 million supply, keeping the firm on track to reach its target of owning 5%.

Bitmine has been acquiring ether at a consistent pace recently, and if this trend continues, it is expected to meet its accumulation goal within the next few months. The company has indicated that it has been purchasing ether weekly since June 2025, when it shifted to a crypto treasury strategy.

The company has staked around 5 million ETH, approximately 85% of its total holdings, and anticipates generating about $357 million in staking revenue annually based on current yields.

Bitmine's shares saw a 5.8% increase in pre-market trading, building on an 8% rise from Friday as ETH reached new heights not seen since late January.

Tom Lee Predicts Year-End Catch-Up for Crypto Investment

In a related observation, Tom Lee suggested that institutional investors may be looking to catch up after prioritizing stocks linked to artificial intelligence earlier this year.

Since late June, ETH has surged by 76%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500, which only saw a 2% increase, indicating its potential to attract more attention from fund managers who have remained cautious with crypto investments this year.

"With institutions being underweighted in crypto during 2026, partly due to the early-year success of AI stocks, we expect a notable increase in their crypto exposure in the last three months of 2026," Lee stated.

He also highlighted tokenization and the rising use of blockchain technology in AI as long-term factors that could lead institutions to boost their investments in crypto.