The rise of Bitmine’s ETH reserves continues for the 4th week
Bitmain Immersion Technologies extended its Ether buying streak to a fifth week, adding 71,179 Ether to its biggest weekly purchase so far in 2026.
The nearly $147 million in Ether (ETH) purchases represents a jump from Bitmine's previous weekly average of $93 million to $103 million, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Last week, Lee said that Ether is in the final stages of a mini-crypto winter, and this is the key reason why the company is expecting strong Ether purchases over the past few weeks. Bitmin bought a total of 238,244 Ether from its four purchases in March.
“Our starting point is that ETH is in the final stages of a ‘mini-crypto winter', so Bitcoin has maintained the pace of ETH purchases in each of the past four weeks,” Lee said on Monday.
Crypto markets have continued to see volatility since October. There have been signs of a slowdown from institutional investors as flows of crypto exchange-traded products have slowed amid tensions in the Middle East.
However, Lee said there may be light at the end of the tunnel for crypto markets once the risks in the oil markets start to subside.
“Crypto and equities' inverse relationship with oil is increasing and is at a high level of last year,” Lee said.
“This is logical. Until equity markets are comfortable with the future direction of oil prices, the rise in oil is a headwind for equities and crypto. And similarly, the crypto winter will end when the sudden risk to oil prices is high,” he said.
Bitmine's closest peers are silent on ETH purchases
StrategicEthReserve currently tracks 67 of the largest Ether reserves, with Bitcoin leading by a wide margin. Sharplink Gaming is in second place with 863,000 Ether, while Ether Machine is in third place with 496,000 tokens.
Of the three Ether treasury companies, only Bitmine has publicly disclosed acquisitions this year.
Sharplink Gaming last bought 3,600 Ether in December, and Ether Machine hasn't bought since reaching 1,400 Ether in October, according to StrategicEthReserve.
The strategy is to buy 45,000 bitcoins in 30 days
A similar trend is playing out among Bitcoin treasuries, according to CryptoQuant.
On Wednesday, Cryptoquant analysts said Michael Saylor's strategy was the sole driver of Bitcoin (BTC) Treasury demand over the past 30 days.
Bitcoin purchases from non-Strategy firms fell to 1,000 BTC in the last 30 days, down 99% from their peak, while Strategy bought 45,000 BTC in the same period.
Related: Bitmine launches institutional Ethereum staking platform
Michael Saylor's strategy remains the number one public crypto treasury with a reported holding of 762,099 bitcoins worth over $51 billion.
However, the company recently paused its regular buying spree, with Saylor not reporting any purchases to the US Securities and Exchange Commission between March 23 and March 29.
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