Key Takeaways
- Bitmine bought 75,000 ETH for about $123 million on June 9, averaging near $1,640 per coin.
- The firm now holds 5.4 million ETH and ranks second only to Strategy among public crypto treasuries.
- Tom Lee’s “Alchemy of 5%” target faces a test as ether trades far below earlier buy prices.
A 75,000 ETH Buy in an Eight-Hour Window
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE American: BMNR) acquired 75,000 ether on June 9 for about $123 million, paying an average of roughly $1,640 per coin. The trades were routed through Kraken and FalconX over an eight-hour window and split across three wallets, two of them freshly created for the purchase.
The buy pushes Bitmine’s holdings above 5.4 million ETH, a stash the company says represents more than 5% of the total ethereum supply, though some onchain trackers place the figure closer to 4.6%. It extends a run of large 2026 purchases that already included 89,000 ETH for $197 million, 111,000 ETH for $237 million, and 127,000 ETH for $214 million.
Bitmine began as a bitcoin mining operation before pivoting to an ether treasury model, a shift funded by a $250 million private placement in June 2025. The pivot has made it the world’s largest ethereum treasury and the second-largest crypto treasury overall, trailing only Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR) and its roughly 845,256 BTC.
Tom Lee, the Fundstrat co-founder who chairs the company, calls the plan the “Alchemy of 5%,” a target of controlling more than 5% of all ether in existence. Bitcoin.com News reported in April that Bitmine added 101,627 ETH worth $233 million in what was then its largest single accumulation of the year.
The backers behind the strategy read like a roster of crypto’s institutional class, including Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Kraken, Digital Currency Group, and Galaxy Digital, alongside Lee himself.
Staking the Hoard
Bitmine stakes a large portion of its holdings through MAVAN, its institutional staking platform, earning a seven-day annualized yield it has pegged near 3%. The firm has projected that annualized staking revenue could approach $270 million once the entire position is deployed.
That income stream sits at the center of Lee’s pitch that Bitmine is more than a passive wager on ether’s price. He has tied long-term ether demand to the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and onchain finance, arguing that the network’s settlement role will expand as more economic activity moves atop the blockchain.
The timing of the development stands out as it comes during one of crypto’s roughest stretches of 2026, with ether changing hands near $1,630, well below the roughly $2,135 average Bitmine paid on an earlier 111,000 ETH purchase.
Bitmine’s stock has tracked ether’s volatility closely since the pivot, and shares tend to move as each disclosed buy comes to light. Because the company holds the single largest corporate ether position, its purchases are indirectly read as a proxy for institutional conviction in the asset, magnifying both the upside and the downside of every accumulation.
Lee has repeatedly argued that buying through drawdowns strengthens his core investment thesis rather than weakening it; however, critics counter that treasury firms trading at a premium to their underlying holdings stand to face immense pressure when token prices fall, and that a sustained slump could narrow or erase that premium.
The next test is whether Bitmine can keep buying through the downturn without straining its share price, and how close Lee can push the treasury toward his 5% goal before year-end.
