Bitmine to Halt Ethereum Buying Once Holdings Reach 5% of Supply, Tom Lee Says

SINGAPORE — Bitmine Immersion Technologies will stop accumulating Ethereum once its holdings reach 5% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply, chairman Tom Lee said at a conference in Singapore, a hard ceiling that sent the token down 5% on Wednesday.

“We only need to get another 100,000 ETH to get to 5%… Now we’re going to stop,” Lee said, according to CryptoProwl. “We thought this would take five years… It took us a little over a year. More importantly, we did this all in the middle of a bear market.”

Bitmine bought $41 million of ETH over the prior week, bringing its holdings to 6,016,414 tokens, or about 4.9% of the 122.1 million in circulation, worth roughly $15.5 billion. Analysts estimate the 5% target will be reached before year-end.

The announcement removes one of the market’s most aggressive Ethereum buyers. Bitmine has purchased ETH every week since launching its crypto treasury strategy in June 2025.

Ethereum fell 5% over 24 hours to $2,565, its weakest level since Sept. 20, alongside pressure from rising 10-year Treasury yields. A 10-year Treasury auction was scheduled for Wednesday.

Bitmine shares have fallen 55% over the past 12 months and were trading at $26.20.