Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Tom Lee, has slowed its purchases of Ethereum (ETH), with a new goal of acquiring 5% of the market by December.
According to a recent press release, Bitmine now owns 5,206,790 ETH in total, valued at $11.89 billion. With an average price of $2,366 per ETH, Bitmine now holds 4.31% of the total supply.
Unveiling the new action plan, Lee said:
We have decided to slow our weekly accumulation pace of >100,000 per week, as we had originally planned to reach the “5% alchemy” goal at the end of 2026. Our previous pace of >100,000 weekly purchases would allow us to reach 5% by mid-July.
Is Bitmine postponing its plans until after the “crypto spring”?
Lee even claimed that the cryptocurrency market could be about to enter a new bullish phase known as the “crypto spring.”
The latter describes the period following a bear market, during which sentiment improves, prices begin to rise, and a new bull cycle begins.
Lee says Ethereum is in a strong position to benefit from the growing trend among financial institutions. He also highlighted the price structure of ETH as a bullish indicator and said,
If ETH closes above $2,100 at the end of May 2026, it would be the third monthly gain in a row – this has never been seen in a cryptocurrency bear market.
He believes that such a decision would validate the market’s exit from a bearish phase and the start of a new bullish cycle for cryptocurrencies.
ETH staked and more
Bitmine also staked 4,712,917 ETH at a price of $2,366 each, for a total of $11.1 billion. With the help of MAVAN (the Made in America Validator Network), Bitmine estimated that the annual ETH staking reward would be $352 million.
This follows a 3.83% increase in Bitmine’s stock price, which was trading at $23.02 at press time. At the same time, ETH was changing hands at $2,292.56 after a 1.78% decline over the past 24 hours.
As CryptoQuant recently reported, this bearish mood has led many investors to believe that ETH is currently in a “stagnant range.”
Current on-chain data paints a bearish picture
Ethereum Exchange Netflow data also showed that recently the chart shows a sharp increase in positive inflows around May 2026.
This implies that traders are putting ETH back on exchanges, perhaps in an attempt to take advantage of the recent rebound towards the $2.3k mark.
Since investors typically move coins to exchanges when they are ready to sell, this indicates that current dynamics may cause selling pressure. All this supports Bitmine’s decision to postpone its project until December.
Final summary
- Bitmine has accumulated a total of 5,206,790 ETH at an average price of $2,366 per ETH.
- Tom Lee predicts an upcoming “crypto spring” market, even if the price action of ETH and Exchange Netflow raises eyebrows.
