Breaking: Tom Lee’s BitMine Adds 51,162 ETH Amid Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum Sales

Tom Lee’s BitMine disclosed today that it bought 51,162 ETH last week. The purchase, announced alongside updated treasury figures, came as Ether traded near $1,927 following recent volatility. The company said it acted because it views Ethereum’s fundamentals as strengthening despite recent price pressure.

BitMine Lifts Ethereum Holdings to 4.42 Million

According to the company statement, Bitmine now holds 4,422,659 ETH valued at $1,958 per token. Additionally, BitMine reported total crypto, cash, and “moonshot” holdings of $9.6 billion.

The holdings include 193 Bitcoin and $691 million in cash. The company also holds a $200 million stake in Beast Industries. Moreover, it owns a $17 million stake in Eightco Holdings, listed on Nasdaq under ORBS.

Notably, BitMine said its Ethereum position equals 3.66% of the 120.7 million ETH supply. The company added it has reached over 73% of its internal “Alchemy of 5%” target within seven months. Meanwhile, it continues raising crypto net asset value per share and cited strong trading liquidity in BMNR stock.

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine, said the firm continues executing its treasury strategy during what he called a “mini crypto winter.” He stated the company keeps acquiring ETH and optimizing yield on holdings. Lee also cited three drivers for Ethereum. These are Wall Street tokenization efforts, AI and agentic-AI usage, and the creator economy’s blockchain adoption.

Staking Operations and Treasury Position

BitMine reported 3,040,483 staked ETH, valued at about $6.0 billion at $1,958 per token. That amount represents roughly 69% of its total Ethereum holdings. According to Lee, annualized staking revenue stands at $171 million.

At scale, staking rewards could reach $249 million annually using a 2.89% seven-day BMNR yield. The Composite Ethereum Staking Rate is at 2.81%. BitMine said its staking operations generated a 2.89% annualized yield over seven days.

The company is developing the Made in America Validator Network, or MAVAN, for launch in early 2026. It is currently working with three staking providers ahead of deployment. BitMine is the largest Ethereum treasury globally and the second-largest crypto treasury overall.

It is second to Strategy, which bought 592 BTC as disclosed today. According to Fundstrat data, BMNR stock traded an average daily dollar volume of $0.7 billion over five days ending February 20, 2026. Today, in pre-market trading, BMNR stock is trading at $19.67, down by 2.29%, or -0.46.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Vitalik Buterin Resumes Ethereum Sales

While BitMine expanded holdings, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold 1,869 ETH worth about $3.7 million, according to Lookonchain data. He resumed sales over the weekend after a two-week pause. Previously, when he sold 6,958 ETH, Ether fell from $2,360 to $1,825.

The latest sales coincided with Ether’s drop to $1,928. Despite the sales, Buterin still holds over 224,106 ETH, valued near $430.85 million at current prices. In January, Buterin said he withdrew 16,384 ETH to fund projects supporting open and secure software, privacy, and long-term ecosystem resilience.