Bitmine buys additional $36M worth of Ethereum amid persistent crash. Why is Tom Lee still doing this?

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE American: BMNR) has spent about $35.92 million on another 20,500 ETH. The block trade took place around July 10, 2026, through Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ: GLXY), with Bitmine paying close to $1,752 for each token.

The acquisition makes Bitmine’s Ethereum holdings close to 5.7 million Ether, whose current value is just shy of $10 billion. There are currently 120.7 million coins of Ethereum in existence, making Bitmine’s holdings of Bitmine close to 4.7% to 4.8%. The company aims for a 5% ownership stake in Ethereum.

Bitmine keeps buying ETH as Tom Lee chases a 5% supply target

Tom Lee, Bitmine’s chairman and a co-founder of Fundstrat, wants the company to use Ethereum much as Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) used Bitcoin. Strategy built its treasury around BTC. Tom is applying that playbook to ETH, although Ethereum has different supply rules, network economics, and uses.

Bitmine started buying ETH heavily in mid-2025 and kept at it through 2026. One purchase added 42,197 ETH for about $76 million, while another brought in 60,976 ETH. Its latest buy of 20,500 ETH was smaller, but it still pushed the company closer to owning 5% of Ethereum’s supply.

The company kept buying even as ETH traded between roughly $1,700 and $2,200 this year. Bitmine seems more focused on how much of the supply it can own than on getting the lowest possible price. Tom calls his outlook a “crypto spring,” where more institutions enter the market and help lift crypto prices over time.

Despite Ethereum having an unlimited supply, the number of new units has remained relatively low following the transition to proof-of-stake validation via the Merge update. EIP-1559, on the other hand, burns some portion of user transaction fees. All these have helped to keep a steady supply growth. Bitmine’s 5.7 million tokens are currently in a corporate wallet.

Ethereum and Bitcoin test major levels while traders watch $80,000 options risk

ETH/USD is stuck between short-term strength and long-term resistance. On the daily chart, the asset’s price is trading above the 20-day SMA ($1,759) and the 50-day SMA ($1,747). The asset’s price is trading below the 200-day SMA ($2,240).

From the Ichimoku Kijun, the closest support level for ETH/USD is at $1,773. RSI is at 56.97, suggesting that there is an advantage for buyers at the moment. Other technical indicators are not as favorable. MACD gives strong bearish signals, whereas ADX is in the neutral zone.

Bitcoin also reached fresh intraday highs after Thursday’s Wall Street opening as U.S. shares recovered on fresh hopes for peace involving Iran. CoinGecko data placed BTC back above $64,000, with the coin gaining almost 5% during the day. CoinGlass recorded close to $100 million in short liquidations across the previous 24 hours.

BTC is now up almost 10% for the month. A bullish crossover has raised the chance of another bounce toward the zone above $70,000, where sellers have stopped several recent rallies. That signal alone does not confirm a new long-term bull run, so traders are watching the next barriers closely.

The third and arguably the most critical level lies around the $71,100 area, where the 200-day moving average of Bitcoin exists at the moment. This technical level prevented the rise in May when BTC rallied to the $60,000 levels from February lows.

Deribit’s options book adds another source of possible turbulence. Notional open interest is the dollar value of outstanding options contracts used mainly for hedging or speculation. Contracts tied to the $80,000 strike carry more than $1.21 billion in notional open interest, the biggest total for any strike on the platform. As BTC gets nearer to that price, hedging by options traders could affect both spot and futures trading and cause sharper price swings.

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