Bitmine has purchased $82 million worth of ether (ETH), pushing its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to 4.8% of the entire supply in circulation, chairman Tom Lee said.
Lee said the purchase brought the company's stake to 120.7 million ETH, or 97% of the way toward its stated goal of owning 5% of all ether in existence, a target the firm calls its "Alchemy 5%" plan. Bitmine has bought ether every week since launching its ETH Treasury Strategy roughly 14 months ago, on June 30, 2025.
Beyond ether, Bitmine also holds 210 bitcoins (BTC), stakes worth $180 million in media company Beast Industries and $89 million in Eightco Holdings, along with $308 million in cash and securities.
Ether's price surge
The price of ether rose 30% over the past week to $2,480, its largest weekly gain since May 2025, when the token climbed 170%. Lee also recalled a sharp rise in July 2021, when ether gained 167%.
Lee attributed the recent surge to support from the United States government and a decision by the U.S. Treasury Department to expand the size of its debt buybacks, which he said increases investors' appetite for high-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Regulatory outlook
Bitmine's leadership said the GENIUS Act, stablecoin legislation passed last summer, along with the creation of a dedicated crypto unit at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, should benefit cryptocurrency and financial services regulation. Lee compared the shift to the end of the U.S. gold standard in 1971, which severed the dollar's peg to gold and ushered in floating fiat currency, laying the groundwork for modern financial and payment systems.
Staking business grows
As of August 23, 2026, Bitmine had staked 5,067,309 ether worth $12.4 billion, the company said. Bitmine launched its MAVAN (Made in America VAlidator Network) staking platform for large investors in early 2026 and projects annual staking revenue of $330 million.
Strategy pauses bitcoin buying
Meanwhile, Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin with 840,447 BTC worth $70 billion, has not bought bitcoin since July, marking seven consecutive weeks without a purchase. In early August, the company sold 1,690 bitcoins for $108.6 million.
