Miami — Bitmine (BMNR), the foremost Ethereum treasury entity, is considering a reduction in its pace of ether (ETH) purchases, according to Chairman Tom Lee. He made this announcement at Consensus 2026 in Miami on Thursday.
The company, which currently holds over 5.1 million ETH valued approximately at $11.9 billion, initially projected a five-year timeline for amassing 5% of the ETH supply. However, as of this week, Bitmine has secured 4.29% less than a year into its strategy.
“At our current rate of acquiring 100,000 ETH weekly, we’ll reach [5%] in roughly six weeks,” Lee stated during his keynote address. “We are contemplating slowing down our accumulation pace.”
This change reflects Bitmine’s ongoing active participation as one of the major digital asset treasuries still procuring crypto amidst a market downturn, contrasting with several competitors that have paused their acquisition strategies.
In contrast, Strategy (MSTR), the principal corporate bitcoin holder and another steadfast crypto investor recently suggested it might sell some bitcoin to fulfill dividend requirements, following Executive Chairman Michael Saylor’s advice.
Bitmine remains profitable through staking earnings and cash flow generation, thereby alleviating the necessity to liquidate its holdings in turbulent markets. Approximately 85% of Bitmine’s ETH is staked, yielding an annualized staking income surpassing $300 million or about $1 million daily.
The firm is also exploring other capital deployment avenues, such as a newly initiated $4 billion share repurchase initiative and expanding MAVAN, its institutional staking platform launched in March. Presently, the service stakes around $14 billion in digital assets, including ETH, Solana (SOL), and Canton (CC) according to Lee.
Beyond Ethereum, Lee pointed out Bitmine’s investments connected to AI and consumer platforms like Eightco Holdings (ORBS) and MrBeast’s Beast Industries. He noted Eightco as one of the few publicly traded entities providing indirect exposure to OpenAI and Sam Altman’s World project.
Lee underscored two major trends likely benefiting Ethereum: the tokenization of financial assets and the surge in AI systems utilizing public blockchains for payment and verification during his keynote.
Read more: Bitcoin closing above $76,000 by end-May would signal a new bull market, according to Tom Lee.