Bitmine (BMNR) accumulated roughly 5.1 million to 5.18 million ETH in under 12 months-a goal it originally set to achieve over five years. The stash, now valued between $11.9 billion and $12 billion, represents about 4.29% to 5% of Ethereum's total supply.
At Consensus 2026 in Miami, Bitmine chairman Tom Lee announced the firm would slow its weekly Ethereum purchases after blowing past its original accumulation timeline. The company had been buying around 100,000 ETH per week.
“At our current buying pace of 100,000 $ETH a week, we’re going to be there in like six weeks… I think we’re deciding perhaps we want to accumulate at a somewhat slower pace,” Lee said.
With the accumulation phase largely complete, Bitmine is pivoting to a two-pronged strategy: staking approximately 85% of its holdings-roughly 4.3 million to 4.4 million ETH-and eyeing up to $4 billion in stock buybacks through its MAVAN platform.
Lee also declared a “crypto spring” for Ethereum, projecting prices above $2,100, driven by momentum in tokenization and the intersection of artificial intelligence with crypto infrastructure.
Market observers have raised concerns about concentration risk: a single entity controlling roughly 5% of Ethereum’s supply could trigger devastating sell pressure if it ever liquidated a meaningful portion. The staking pivot partially addresses this, as staked ETH is locked up and subject to withdrawal queues. Still, a single entity staking 4.3 million ETH represents a significant chunk of the validator set, raising questions about centralization in a network that prides itself on decentralization.