Tom Lee Hints at Bitmine Pausing its Ethereum Accumulation Spree

Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technology, said the company may not need to own more than 5% of Ethereum supply. This signaled a pause or potential slowdown in the company’s aggressive Ethereum buying spree amid a plunge in Ethereum supply.

Tom Lee Signals Pausing Ethereum Buying

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas revealed on June 11 that Tom Lee made the remarks at a recent DACFP financial planner event while discussing Bitmine’s aggressive Ethereum buying strategy, known as “Alchemy of 5%.”

Tom Lee said Bitmine may not need to hold more than 5% target as Ethereum’s supply shrinks. Bitmine currently holds about 5.54 million ETH, equal to roughly 4.6% of Ethereum’s total supply.

The company has pursued aggressive purchases to reach 5% supply target. Tom Lee’s Bitmine made its largest Ethereum purchase of 2026 last week, buying 126,971 ETH worth $214 million.

Notably, Tom Lee has expressed a strong conviction in Ethereum’s long-term value. He said the current financial system is built on multiple overlapping technology layers and still suffers from fraudulent transactions, while Ethereum and Bitcoin have not had a single fraudulent transaction to date.

Blockchain also operates at a much lower cost than the traditional financial system, he said. Investing in blockchain is akin to owning the core infrastructure of the digital economy.

In addition, Tom Lee said rising agentic AI could increase demand for Ethereum. AI agents will use blockchain for transaction speed and reliable record-keeping. He claimed that the combination of AI and blockchain could become a new growth driver.

Lee said there is a high chance of Bitmine joining the Russell 1000 Index later in June. He thinks that inclusion in the index could support institutional inflows and help stabilize the stock price.

Bitmine Buys 25,000 ETH

Tom Lee’s Bitmine bought another 25,000 ETH worth $41.09 million from BitGo in the past 8 hours, according to on-chain analytics Lookonchain data. Bitmine has purchased a total of 125,000 ETH worth $206 million in the past 3 days.

Ethereum price has surged 3% in the past 24 hours, currently trading at $1653. The 24-hour low and high are $1603 and $1665, respectively. However, trading volume has decreased slightly as traders remain cautious amid the US-Iran war escalation.

Derivatives market showed massive buying in the last few hours, according to CoinGlass data. At the time of writing, the total ETH futures open interest jumped 3% to $23.76 billion in the last 4 hours. The ETH futures open interest climbed almost 0.50% on CME and more than 1.70% on Binance.

BMNR stock closed 3.43% lower at $15.64 on Wednesday. It dropped 0.70% more in after-market hours. The stock has tumbled more than 7% in a week and 32% in a month amid Ethereum price crash.