Tom Lee’s Firm Just Bought $46M More ETH — Even as Its Own Stock Slid
BitMine now holds nearly 4.8% of all Ethereum in existence, but its stock fell the same week. Here's what that split screen means for ETH holders.
Bitmine, the Ethereum-focused treasury company chaired by well-known crypto bull Tom Lee, just added another 27,801 ETH to its stash over the past week. That purchase pushes the firm’s total holdings to 5,770,038 ETH — roughly 4.8% of every Ether coin that will ever exist. Yet while Bitmine’s crypto pile keeps growing, shares of its listed company, BMNR, actually fell around the same announcement.
For everyday ETH holders, this is a story worth watching closely: a major institutional buyer is quietly soaking up a huge slice of Ethereum’s supply, even as the market reacts coolly to the company doing the buying.
What Bitmine actually owns
Bitmine isn’t just sitting on that ETH — most of it is put to work. As of July 12, the company had staked 4,917,189 ETH, meaning the bulk of its holdings are locked up earning network rewards rather than just parked in cold storage.
On top of its ETH, Bitmine reported $482 million in cash and marketable securities. Add it all together — the Ethereum, the cash, and other investments — and the company’s total treasury was valued at roughly $11.3 billion.
Bitmine has been public about its ambition to own 5% of Ethereum’s entire circulating supply by the end of the year. At 4.8%, it’s now within striking distance of that goal, which would make it one of the largest single holders of ETH anywhere.
So why did the stock fall?
Here’s the twist: buying more Ethereum is usually seen as bullish, but BMNR shares slipped following the disclosure. This is a reminder that a company’s stock price and the value of the assets it holds don’t always move in lockstep — investors weigh plenty of other factors, from broader market sentiment to how the purchase was financed.
For anyone holding BMNR stock as a way to get exposure to Ethereum, it’s a useful lesson: buying the “Ethereum proxy” stock isn’t the same as buying ETH directly, and the two can diverge in price even on the same news day.
Tom Lee points to Robinhood Chain
Alongside the purchase news, Tom Lee flagged Robinhood’s own blockchain project — often called the Robinhood Chain — as a fresh reason to be bullish on Ethereum. The trading app’s blockchain push has been building steadily, and Lee sees it as another sign that Ethereum’s underlying network keeps finding new real-world uses beyond speculation.
Read more: Robinhood’s New Blockchain Is Booming — Thanks to Free Transactions for Now
Why this matters if you hold ETH
When a single company controls close to 5% of Ethereum’s supply, it changes the picture for everyday holders in a few ways. A large, patient buyer taking coins off the open market and staking them can reduce the amount of ETH readily available to trade, which some investors view as a long-term positive for price stability.
But concentration also carries risk. If a major holder like Bitmine ever needed to sell a large chunk of its ETH quickly — to cover debts, meet redemptions, or respond to market stress — that could put pressure on the price for everyone else holding the coin. It’s a dynamic worth keeping an eye on as Bitmine edges closer to its 5% target.
