Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Tom Lee, has slowed down its Ethereum purchases with a fresh aim to acquire 5% of the market by December 2026. According to a recent press release, Bitmine now has 5,206,790 ETH in total, valued at $11.89 billion with an average price of $2,366 per ETH. The company currently owns 4.31% of the total supply, representing a significant position in the Ethereum ecosystem. As reported by AMBCrypto, Lee explained that the previous pace of >100,000 ETH per week would have reached the 5% target by mid-July, prompting the decision to slow down accumulation.
Lee contended that the cryptocurrency market might be about to enter a new bullish phase known as a 'crypto spring' - the time following a bear market when sentiment improves and prices begin to rise. According to Fundstrat analysis, Lee believes Ethereum is in a strong position to gain from the growing trend of financial institutions. He pointed to ETH's price structure as a bullish indicator, stating that if ETH closes above $2,100 at the end of May 2026, this would be the third consecutive monthly gain - a phenomenon that has never been seen in a crypto bear market. This move would validate the market's exit from a bearish phase and the start of a new crypto bull cycle.
Bitmine has also staked 4,712,917 ETH at a price of $2,366 each, totaling $11.1 billion. With the assistance of MAVAN (the Made in America Validator Network), Bitmine estimated that the yearly ETH staking reward would be $352 million. This staking strategy provides additional income streams while maintaining exposure to the Ethereum ecosystem. As reported by AMBCrypto, this follows a 3.83% increase in Bitmine's stock price, which was trading at $23.02 at press time.
According to CryptoQuant data, ETH was trading at $2,292.56 after a 1.78% drop in the past 24 hours. The Ethereum Exchange Netflow data showed a sharp rise in positive inflows near May 2026, indicating that traders are once more putting ETH on exchanges to profit from the recent rebound toward the $2.3K mark. This exchange activity suggests that the current dynamic may be causing selling pressure, supporting Bitmine's decision to postpone its plan until December. As reported by AMBCrypto, this bearish mood has led many investors to believe that ETH is currently in a 'stagnant range'.
