MarketsEther is set to lose a consistent buyer as Tom Lee announces that Bitmine will halt its token acquisitions.
Tom Lee stated that Bitmine will cease its accumulation once it reaches 5% ownership of Ethereum’s circulating supply, concluding a buying period that began in mid-2025 and established the firm as the largest holder of Ethereum.
By Krisztian Sandor|Edited by Stephen AlpherOct 7, 2026, 8:40 a.m. EDT2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on
Tom Lee at Consensus Miami 2026 (CoinDesk)Show- Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee confirmed that the firm will halt its ether purchases once it attains 5% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply.
- The company currently holds over 6 million ETH, valued at $15 billion or 4.9% of the total supply, needing about 100,000 more tokens to hit its goal.
- Starting in June 2025, Bitmine’s treasury strategy has been a consistent source of demand for ETH, which has since seen significant price declines.
Ether ETH$2,574.56, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is on the verge of losing one of its most reliable demand sources as Bitmine BMNR$24.88·Market Closed prepares to cease its token buying.
Tom Lee, the chairman of Bitmine, announced at TOKEN2049 in Singapore on Wednesday that the firm will stop acquiring ETH once its holdings reach 5% of the circulating supply, marking an end to a buying trend that positioned it as a top ETH holder globally.
“We only need to get another 100,000 ETF to get to 5%,” Lee stated. “Now we're going to stop,” he added.
Bitmine is nearing this target. In its latest update, the company reported acquiring an additional $41 million in ETH last week, bringing its total to 6,016,414 ETH, which constitutes approximately 4.9% of the 122.1 million tokens in circulation. At ETH's price of about $2,580 on Wednesday, this represents a value of around $15.5 billion.
“We thought this would take five years,” Lee remarked. “It took us a little over a year. More importantly, we did this all in the middle of a bear market.”
At the current rate of purchasing, acquiring the remaining 100,000 ETH is expected to take about six to seven weeks if Bitmine maintains its accumulation pace.
According to the Monday update, the firm possesses $643 million in cash and marketable securities available for further ETH acquisitions, more than sufficient to reach its 5% goal at current prices.
The impending halt of Bitmine’s purchases is significant due to the company’s role as a steady buyer. Bitmine claims to have purchased ETH weekly since initiating its treasury strategy in June 2025.
However, many of these acquisitions took place during last year's crypto bull market at elevated prices, leaving Bitmine with substantial unrealized losses on its ether investments. The firm's ETH holdings are currently showing $4.5 billion in unrealized losses, as per data from DropsTab.
On Wednesday, ether was already facing downward pressure amidst broader market weakness, having dropped 5% over the prior 24 hours to its lowest point since September 20, declining nearly twice as much as bitcoin BTC$83,496.00 amid the overall downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
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