Ether is about to lose a steady buyer as Tom Lee says Bitmine will stop token purchases

At last week’s buying pace, adding another 100,000 ETH would take about six to seven more weeks, assuming the company continues to accumulate at roughly the same rate.

The firm held $643 million in cash and marketable securities that it could use for further ETH purchases, according to the Monday update, more than twice the amount it would need to buy the remaining ETH required to reach its 5% target at current prices

The looming end of Bitmine’s purchases matters because the company has provided unusually steady demand. Bitmine says it has bought ETH every week since launching its ether treasury strategy in June 2025.

However, much of the purchases happened during last year’s crypto bull market at higher prices, meaning Bitmine is sitting deeply underwater on its ether bet. The firm’s ETH holdings carry $4.5 billion in unrealized losses, according to data collected by DropsTab.

Ether was already under pressure on Wednesday amid broader crypto market weakness. ETH fell 5% over the past 24 hours to its weakest price since Sept. 20, dropping nearly twice as much as bitcoin BTC$83,496.00 amid broader weakness in the crypto market.