Bitmine makes largest Ethereum purchase of 2026: ‘mini-crypto winter almost over’

The American company BitMine has once again increased its bet on Ethereum (ETH). While the crypto market is still under pressure, the company purchased a large amount of coins again last week. According to chairman Tom Lee, there is increasing evidence that the current bear market is nearing an end.

Bitmine is aggressively buying more Ethereum

Bitmine, the exchange company with the most Ether on its balance sheet, has again invested heavily in Ethereum. In one week, the company bought 60,976 ETH, according to its press release. At the current price of $2,018, that amounts to approximately $123 million.

With this purchase, BitMine now owns over 4.5 million ETH. That represents a value of $9.07 billion. This means the company owns approximately 3.76 percent of all ETH in circulation.

It probably won’t stop at these purchases. The company’s goal is to eventually own 5 percent of all ETH in circulation.

Chairman Tom Lee is also optimistic about the share price prospects. According to him, several signals indicate that the crypto market may be close to a bottom. “We continue to believe that crypto prices are in the late or final stages of a ‘mini-crypto winter,’” Lee said.

Recent purchases are slightly higher than in previous weeks. “As the saying goes, no one rings the bell at the exact low point,” Lee said. “Therefore, our strategy now is to slightly increase the pace of our ETH purchases.” According to him, it is virtually impossible to precisely time the market’s lowest point.

Strategy buys $1.28 billion worth of Bitcoin

At Strategy, the largest public Bitcoin (BTC) reserve company, they are also increasing purchases. Michael Saylor’s company announced today that it has purchased approximately $1.28 billion worth of Bitcoin. A total of 17,994 BTC was involved, for which an average of $70,947 was paid per coin.

This purchase increases Strategy’s total supply to 738,731 Bitcoin, accounting for approximately 3.7 percent of all BTC in circulation. This makes the company by far the largest corporate crypto holder in the world. The investment was largely financed by the sale of new shares and a special investment product for investors.

Billions in losses on paper, but large strike income

On paper, Bitmine is significantly in the red. The company paid an average of more than $3,700 per ETH. This brings the theoretical loss to approximately $7.5 billion, almost 45 percent.

Yet that does not seem to deter the company. BitMine, meanwhile, is also making money by staking a large portion of its Ethereum. This involves the company tying its coins to the network to process transactions and secure the system. In return, it receives rewards in the form of additional ETH.

More than three million ETH of the total supply is used for staking. In its press release, the company states that this currently generates approximately $174 million per year. If all ETH is ultimately staked, that amount could rise to approximately $259 million per year.