BitMine expands Ethereum holdings with largest purchase of the year

BitMine Immersion Technologies announced it bought 126,971 ether (ETH) in the past week, the biggest Ethereum acquisition the firm has made in 2026. The purchase brings BitMine’s total treasury to roughly 5.5 million ETH, representing about 4.6% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply and valued near $9.9 billion at current prices. Chairman Tom Lee said the firm increased buying because the recent price pull‑back does not reflect Ethereum’s strengthening fundamentals and expects demand for resilient decentralized blockchains to rise as artificial‑intelligence systems expose weaknesses in centralized infrastructure.

The acquisition comes despite BitMine reporting an unrealized loss of almost $9.7 billion as ETH prices have fallen about 15% over the last week and are down roughly 65% from their August 2025 peak. During the same period, Ethereum ETFs recorded $173 million in net outflows for a fourth consecutive week. Ethereum co‑founder Joe Lubin called recent foundation leadership changes a necessary evolution, not a crisis.