Ethereum Faces a Brutal Test Amid BitMine’s 126,971 ETH Scoop

Bitmine adds 126,971 ETH, nearing 5% of supply, as ETH hovers near key technical support. Here’s what analysts and Tom Lee are saying.

Bitmine has added 126,971 ETH to its holdings in a single week. The company now controls 5.54 million ETH, worth roughly $9 billion at current prices. That figure represents 4.59% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply. 

The accumulation comes as ETH trades just below $1,700, a level some analysts describe as technically fragile. Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee says the dip does not reflect the underlying strength of Ethereum’s fundamentals.

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Bitmine Closes In on 5% ETH Supply Target

Bitmine is now 92% of the way toward what the company calls the “Alchemy of 5%.” The milestone refers to owning 5% of all circulating ETH. 

Lee confirmed the company expects to reach that threshold sometime in 2026. The buying pace has picked up recently, with last week’s 126,971 ETH acquisition among the largest single-week moves the company has made.

Bitmine currently holds 4,718,677 staked ETH, generating annualized staking revenues projected at $230 million. The company runs MAVAN, short for Made in America Validator Network, as its institutional-grade staking platform. 

At a 2.99% seven-day annualized yield, staked holdings are projected to generate $270 million annually once fully deployed. MAVAN was initially built to support Bitmine’s own treasury but now targets institutional investors and custodians.

Total holdings extend beyond ETH. Bitmine reports $180 million in Beast Industries, an $88 million stake in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS), and $247 million in cash. 

The company ranks as the world’s largest ETH treasury and the second-largest global crypto treasury, trailing only Strategy Inc., which holds 843,706 BTC valued at around $52 billion.

ETH Price Sits at a Technically Sensitive Level

Crypto analyst Ardi (@ArdiNSC) flagged the current price zone as one worth watching. 

He pointed out that ETH has historically bottomed only after its weekly RSI broke below the 30 oversold threshold. In 2018, once that line broke, ETH fell roughly 63% from $205 to $75. In 2022, the drop was around 65%, from $2,200 down to $750.

ETH has not entered that oversold region yet. With the price sitting just under $1,700, Ardi noted that major macro support sits only about 15% below current levels. That proximity leaves limited room before the chart would test historically critical territory.

He also pointed out a nuance in this cycle. ETH has spent more time in the lower half of its oscillator range than in any prior four-year period. That behavior opens a small possibility that ETH finds a bottom without RSI fully breaking into oversold territory. 

He added that ETH never saw a true breakout this cycle, which might reduce the need for the type of violent correction seen in previous bears.

Tom Lee Ties ETH’s Case to AI and Decentralized Infrastructure

Lee referenced last week’s Zcash security incident in his latest statement. A flaw discovered in the Orchard circuit audit briefly rattled parts of the crypto market. 

Lee framed the broader selloff as a surface-level reaction. He argued that as AI systems grow more capable, demand for neutral and decentralized blockchains will likely increase. 

Centralized financial rails and weaker decentralized protocols face greater vulnerability to AI-driven exploits, he said.

Lee’s view is that this environment strengthens Ethereum’s product-market fit rather than weakening it. Bitmine’s institutional backers include ARK’s Cathie Wood, Pantera, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, Founders Fund, and DCG, among others. 

BMNR stock trades an average of $829 million daily, ranking 148th among all US-listed equities by dollar volume.

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