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BitMine’s large buy and a string of public warnings have left markets watching Ethereum closely this week. Big moves were made during the sell-off, and firms and investors are now weighing whether those buys mean confidence or simply a bet on a rebound.
Large Scale Accumulation Continues
According to onchain data from Arkham Intelligence and the tracker ‘BMNR Bullz’, BitMine Immersion Technologies bought a total of 379,271 ETH in three separate purchases: 202,037 ETH after the weekend crash, 104,336 ETH on Thursday, and 72,898 ETH on Saturday.
Reports have disclosed the haul is worth almost $1.5 billion. The purchases have not been officially confirmed by BitMine, but the transfers were visible on public ledgers.
BitMine’s Position And Timing
BitMine is reported to hold more than 3 million ETH, which equates to about 2.5% of the entire supply, and that stash was valued at roughly $11.7 billion at recent prices.
🚨 MASSIVE ETHEREUM ACCUMULATION
Bitmine just went ALL IN on $ETH scooping up a total of 379,271 ETH ($1.48B) during the dip! 👀
💰 +72,898 ETH ($281M) yesterday’s dip
💰 +104,336 ETH ($417M) 3 days ago
💰 +202,037 ETH after the weekend crashTom Lee wasn’t joking when he said… pic.twitter.com/oiyhLO79wk
— BMNR Bullz (@BMNRBullz) October 18, 2025
Based on reports, the firm has set a goal of reaching 5% of supply and only began building the treasury in early July when Ether was near $2,500.
Tom Lee of Fundstrat has also been buying — he said he purchased $1.5 billion worth of Ether since the market crash — signaling that some large players see long-term upside.
Questions Raised About DAT Pricing
Reports say Lee warned that the hype around digital asset treasuries, or DATs, may be fading, with many DATs trading at or below their net asset value (NAV).
Research firm 10x Research reported that several major DATs were near or under NAV. That has led investors to ask whether the trading discounts reflect lasting trouble or a brief market reset.
Huobi founder Li Lin is reportedly raising about $1 billion to put into an Ether treasury, which shows some firms still want exposure despite the cheap trading levels.
Bullish Views Meet Market Stress
According to Lee, Ethereum could “flip” Bitcoin in a way he compared to how Wall Street and equities overtook gold after 1971. He also warned investors are still “licking their wounds” from a record leverage flush.
Markets are down 15% from the October 7 high, while gold has eased about 3% from its peak. Those moves are shaping where big holders place their bets.
Over the weekend I witnessed something every crypto investor should pay attention to. Ethereum, the largest blockchain in the world, got congested and fees skyrocketed past $1,000 just to process small transactions. That’s like paying a thousand-dollar toll to drive on a one-lane… pic.twitter.com/m9o1sRUQE0
— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) October 16, 2025
Network Strain
Meanwhile, based on social posts and blockchain data, Kevin O’Leary sounded the alarm about congestion on Ethereum after fees spiked during the sell-off.
He wrote that simple transactions briefly carried fees of as much as $1,000, calling attention to limits in handling sudden demand.
Etherscan data showed average daily gas prices hit a nine-month high last Friday, which was confirmed by market trackers.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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Tom Lee’s BitMine has purchased another $281 million of ETH, taking the concept of ‘buying the dip’ to a whole new level. When the market sold off, BitMine accumulated. The company’s total Ethereum holdings now exceed 3.03 million ETH, roughly 2.5% of the entire supply, valued at around $12.9 billion.
Blockchain analytics from Lookonchain shows additional BitMine-linked wallets receiving over 72,000 ETH ($281 million) in transfers from FalconX and BitGo this week, reinforcing what’s looking like a coordinated strategy by the firm and other OTC desks to build positions into weakness.
Whales are back on the hunt
BitMine is not alone in its conviction. Analysts at WhaleMap and Arkham note that other large investors and institutions have been steadily accumulating Ethereum since early October, with more than 400,000 ETH flowing from exchanges into cold wallets.
Exchange reserves have fallen to a three-year low, suggesting that large players continue to hold long-term positions rather than trade short-term volatility. According to on-chain data, cumulative institutional holdings across corporate treasuries and Ethereum ETFs now exceed 12.8 million ETH, over 10% of the total supply.
Tom Lee remains one of the market’s most prominent Ethereum bulls. He recently reaffirmed his prediction that ETH could reach between $12,000 and $15,000 by the end of 2025, citing Ethereum’s expanding role in tokenization, decentralized finance, and AI-driven infrastructure.
His bullish case rests on liquidity dynamics: as rates fall and risk appetite returns, Ethereum’s utility and burn rate could push it into a genuine supply squeeze. Lee describes this phase as “real price discovery,” not speculation. In parallel, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes has also doubled down, forecasting that Ethereum could reach $10,000 before the end of the year as macro headwinds ease and DeFi activity rebounds.
BitMine is strategically purchasing ETH
The timing of these buys is not lost on the market. BitMine’s October accumulation followed a sharp correction that wiped out more than $19 billion in leveraged positions across crypto. Ethereum briefly sank below $3,800 before rebounding above $4,100. BitMine’s strategic purchases helped steady confidence during those volatile sessions. As crypto investor Ted Pillows commented:
“Bitmine bought $279,640,000 in $ETH today. Big players are accumulating Ethereum.”
Behind the numbers, there’s a deeper narrative: institutional actors appear to be positioning for Ethereum’s next growth phase. With stablecoin settlement volumes on Ethereum surpassing $5 trillion in the third quarter (an all-time high), the network’s dominance as a settlement layer remains unchallenged.
For long-term investors like BitMine, this is less about timing the market and more about accumulating the infrastructure layer of a new financial system. In this context, each dip becomes a discount rather than a deterrent.
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Posted In: Ethereum, Treasury Companies
