Bitmine increases purchase by 100k Ethereum! Tom Lee reiterates: "The mini winter" is coming to an end

According to the announcement released on Monday, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) bought 101,627 Ether last week, bringing its holdings to 4.97 million Ether, or 4.12% of the total Ether supply.
If estimated at a market price of $2,301 per Ether, the value of Bitmine’s Ether holdings is as high as $11.45 billion, making it the world’s largest Ether reserve company, and also the second-largest cryptocurrency reserve company after Strategy (which holds about 815,061 Bitcoin, worth approximately $61.2 billion).
After accumulating for as long as 9 months, Bitmine has already reached 82% of its goal of holding 5% of the total Ether supply.
Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said that in the past four weeks, the company has continued to buy Ether, and that last week’s purchasing pace was also the highest record since the week of December 15, 2025. He pointed out that the company’s internal judgment is that Ether is in the “final stage of a mini crypto winter.”
Tom Lee reiterated that the current crypto winter “is about to end.” By way of example, he said that since 2015, every time the cryptocurrency market has seen a major drop, it has often been accompanied by at least a 20% decline in the stock market; however, in 2026, the stock market pullback has been limited to around 8%.
He also added that Ethereum continues to benefit from “a dual tailwind”: first, institutions are accelerating the promotion of asset tokenization on blockchain; second, the rise of proxy-based artificial intelligence systems. Advanced AI that can autonomously execute tasks relies heavily on neutral, decentralized public ledgers for settlement and operation, and Ethereum is the infrastructure that perfectly fits this need.
According to CoinGecko data, Ether today (the 21st) has stabilized above the $2,300 level, falling more than 53% from the record high of $4,946 set in August last year.
In addition to having a large amount of Ether, Bitmine’s balance sheet also holds 199 Bitcoins, Beast Industries shares worth $200 million, shares in Eightco—an WLD (World Coin) reserve company—worth $107 million, and $1.12 billion in cash.