Tom Lee’s BitMine purchased an additional $281 million worth of ETH, taking the concept of “buying the dip” to a whole new level. When the market sold off, BitMine piled on. The company’s total Ethereum holdings now exceed 3.03 million ETH, or approximately 2.5% of the total supply, valued at approximately $12.9 billion.
Lookonchain’s blockchain analysis shows that additional wallets linked to BitMine received more than 72,000 ETH ($281 million) in transfers from FalconX and BitGo this week, reinforcing what looks like a coordinated strategy by the company and other OTC desks to shore up positions in weakness.
The whales start hunting again
BitMine is not the only one convinced. Analysts at WhaleMap and Arkham note that other large investors and institutions have been steadily accumulating Ethereum since early October, with over 400,000 ETH flowing from trades to cold wallets.
Foreign exchange reserves fell to a three-year low, suggesting that big players continue to hold long-term positions rather than trading short-term volatility. According to on-chain data, cumulative institutional holdings in corporate treasuries and Ethereum ETFs now exceed 12.8 million ETH, or more than 10% of the total supply.
Tom Lee remains one of the most prominent Ethereum bulls on the market. He recently reaffirmed his prediction that ETH could reach between $12,000 and $15,000 by the end of 2025, citing Ethereum’s growing role in tokenization, decentralized finance, and AI-based infrastructure.
His bullish argument relies on liquidity dynamics: as rates fall and risk appetite returns, Ethereum’s utility and depletion rate could push it into a true supply squeeze. Lee describes this phase as “real price discovery,” not speculation. Meanwhile, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes also doubled down, predicting that Ethereum could hit $10,000 before the end of the year as macro headwinds ease and DeFi activity rebounds.
BitMine strategically buys ETH
The timing of these purchases is not lost on the market. BitMine’s October accumulation follows a sharp correction that wiped out more than $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions. Ethereum briefly dipped below $3,800 before rebounding above $4,100. BitMine’s strategic purchases helped maintain confidence during these volatile sessions. As crypto investor Ted Pillows commented:
“Bitmine bought $279,640,000 in ETH today. Big players are accumulating Ethereum.”
Behind the numbers lies a deeper story: institutional players appear to be positioning themselves for Ethereum’s next phase of growth. With stable 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, it’s less about timing the market and more about accumulating the infrastructure layer of a new financial system. In this context, each reduction becomes a discount rather than a deterrent effect.
