Bitmine invests another $238 million to buy Ethereum! Why is Tom Lee loudly proclaiming that the "Crypto Spring" has arrived?

Bitmine invested $238 million in Ethereum last week, bringing the total holdings to over 5.18 million coins. Tom Lee pointed out that the crypto spring has arrived, with tokenization and AI demand driving application growth, and is optimistic about regulatory bills passing.

The world’s largest corporate Ethereum holder, Bitmine (BMNR), bought an additional 101,745 ETH last week. Chairman Tom Lee stated that even though market sentiment remains subdued, a new round of “crypto spring” has quietly begun.

According to a statement released on Monday, Bitmine’s total ETH holdings have surpassed 5.18 million coins, accounting for approximately 4.29% of the total ETH supply.

Currently, the total scale of cryptocurrencies and cash assets held by Bitmine has reached $13.1 billion. Besides holding a large amount of ETH, the company also owns 200 Bitcoin, $700 million in cash and equity, including stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.

Based on current market prices, the latest ETH purchase by Bitmine is valued at about $238 million, continuing the company’s pattern of large weekly acquisitions.

Bitmine’s confidence to make such a significant investment at this moment stems from its market trend judgment. Tom Lee believes that the cryptocurrency market is gradually emerging from the past few months’ “mini winter.” He pointed out that market conditions are improving, and positive progress is also being seen in the U.S. digital asset regulation bill, the “CLARITY Act.”

In his statement, he explained: “The U.S. Senate recently released a compromise version of the CLARITY Act. Although the new version prohibits paying interest or yields on stored assets, it allows providers to offer rewards based on ‘actual transactions or activities,’ balancing and protecting the interests of existing deposit institutions (i.e., traditional banks).”

For us, this compromise is basically acceptable, and we are very much looking forward to seeing the bill pass smoothly in 2026.

He also mentioned that on decentralized prediction market Polymarket, traders are betting that the CLARITY Act will pass this year with over a 60% probability.

Tom Lee emphasized: “In our view, the crypto spring has already begun. Similar to previous cycles, even if cryptocurrency prices rise, investor sentiment and confidence remain subdued and bearish.”

Tom Lee pointed out that Ethereum is benefiting from two long-term trends: one is the wave of “tokenization” that brings financial assets onto the blockchain; the other is the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. He expects future AI systems will seek neutral and open blockchain networks for payments and identity verification, significantly increasing the practical application demand for Ethereum.

Additionally, Tom Lee mentioned that since the outbreak of the Iran conflict, ETH has outperformed traditional stock markets, indicating that ETH is gradually being viewed as an asset with both “store of value” and “medium of exchange” properties.

Bitmine is also continuing to expand its staking business, with over 84%, or 4.36 million ETH, staked, which is estimated to generate about $297 million in annualized returns.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: “Block Guest”
• Original title: “Bitmine Spends Another $238 Million to Buy ETH! Tom Lee Declares: ‘Crypto Spring’ Is Here”
• Original author: Block Sister MEL