BitMine added 41,788 ETH last week as Tom Lee called the withdrawal attractive amid growing on-chain activity.
The price of Ethereum (ETH) plunged over the weekend, falling from around $2,900 to near $2,100 as selling pressure intensified. It has since stabilized slightly on Tuesday, but remains down more than 26% over the past month.
Despite weakening investor confidence, Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, attributed the crypto asset’s weakness to a lack of leverage and gold’s rise rather than Ethereum’s deteriorating fundamentals.
Aggressive buying spree
BitMine, Ethereum’s leading treasury company, continued to accumulate ETH during the recent price pullback. Lee, who is also its chairman, called current levels “attractive” amid what he sees as strengthening fundamentals of the network.
Lee said:
“BitMine has been buying Ethereum regularly as we view this pullback as attractive given the strengthening fundamentals. In our view, the price of ETH does not reflect the broad utility of ETH and its role as the future of finance.”
The crypto asset’s sharp drop in price over the past month comes even as Ethereum’s daily transactions hit an all-time high of 2.5 million and active addresses climbed to a record 1 million per day in 2026. Lee compared this to previous crypto downturns, when on-chain activity declined, and said the recent price weakness appears to be due to non-fundamental factors, including moderate leverage and surging prices of precious metals.
His comments followed reports estimating that the company was sitting on more than $6.9 billion in unrealized losses on its Ethereum holdings.
No pressure to sell ETH
As of February 2, the company reported total crypto and investment assets of $10.7 billion, including 4,285,125 ETH, 193 Bitcoin, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries associated with MrBeast, a $19 million stake in Eightco Holdings, and $586 million in cash.
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According to the company, its balance sheet includes approximately $10.1 billion in cryptocurrencies and investments, with its Ethereum holdings generating staking rewards at a composite Ethereum staking rate of 2.81%, while cash generates money market returns of approximately 3.5% to 3.9%.
BitMine has not reported any outstanding debt. Lee said this structure allows the company to withstand the volatility of the crypto market while generating recurring revenue. He also added that there was no pressure to sell ETH given the lack of covenants or associated restrictions. As of February 1, BitMine has staked 2,897,459 ETH, which represents approximately $6.7 billion. This is an increase of 888,192 ETH over the past week and represents a portion of its total Ethereum holdings.
The ETH staked has been increasing steadily from 408,627 ETH at the end of December 2024. BitMine said it is currently working with three staking providers as it prepares to launch its MAVAN validator trading network in 2026. According to Lee’s update, in the most recent week the company acquired 41,788 ETH, continuing a pattern of weekly purchases that has included significant additions throughout the month of January.
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