Ethereum price remains supported by BitMine’s aggressive ETH accumulation, with the firm now controlling over 4.29% of the circulating supply and nearing its long-term 5% ownership target. BitMine’s accumulation surge has been a significant market prop, but if the buying activity stops abruptly or, even worse, if the company defaults on liquidation during the downturn, it could cause substantial fluctuations and supply shock for ETH, caution analysts. A rising channel pattern drives short term recovery in Ethereum price. ETH, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum ecosystem, rose 0.95% during Friday’s U.S. market hours to trade at $2,312. The buying pressure gained its current momentum following the traditional U.S. stock market as indices like S&P500 and NasDaq hit new high. The coin price gained additional momentum from the steady buying pressure from treasury firms like BitMine . After relentless buying the company is close to its self claimed target of owning 5% of all Ethereum in existence. Once achieved, will BitMine go silent in accumulation of more ETH and how it may impact Ethereum price. Origin of the Strategy BitMine’s Ethereum obsession began on a high note. The company has closed a $250 million private placement that it used to instantly invest in ETH, doubling its stake within days of closing. Thomas “Tom” Lee, a founder of the Fundstrat, is the architect behind this and has been chairman of BitMine, the public face of the Ethereum believers. Lee’s thesis was simple yet brave: copy the MicroStrategy Bitcoin, but this time with Ethereum. MicroStrategy’s continuous Bitcoin buying fueled its growth into what analysts described as a “sovereign put”: If a nation-state wanted to buy 5% of the Bitcoin network, it would find it easiest to purchase MSTR. Lee said that the same could happen for ETH as it did for Bitcoin, which he called the “Wall Street put.” For any institutional level exposure to Ethereum that could be meaningful, you would eventually have to go through BitMine. The 5% Target and the Buying Machine The number “5%” has never been a random figure. It was the tipping point that Lee and BitMine had determined their investments would become strategically significant enough for sovereign wealth funds, Wall Street institutions and nation-states to care about. Today, BitMine holds more than 4.29% of the total Ethereum circulating supply of 120.7 million tokens, and says it is 82% the way to the milestone. The pace of buying has been staggering. The company alone has purchased 71,524 ETH during the past week, the highest single-week purchase since December 2025. At this rate, the 5% finish line isn’t far away. It’s just a matter of weeks. BitMine Is Becoming Ethereum’s MicroStrategy Markets are based on supply and demand and BitMine has been an amazing, reliable demand. The firm has been coming into the market week after week with hundreds of millions of dollars in buy orders, making it what traders call a “persistent bid,” or a known, recurring buyer that sets a floor under the price. This is no hypothetical scenario. The purchase of Bitcoin by MicroStrategy was largely responsible for setting a psychological and structural support level for BTC, during an accumulation period. For ETH, BitMine has done the same. In addition to the raw buying BitMine also debuted MAVAN, the Made in American Validator Network, an institutional-grade staking platform. Much of its ETH is already locked up, taken out of circulation and not available to be sold. Staking on this scale not only keeps price up, it actually constricts supply. Ethereum’s Biggest Buyer Is About to Exit Here is where the story gets complicated. When BitMine reaches 5% it will switch from accumulation to stewardship as per its mandate. The buying machine switches off. This presents a new challenge for the ETH market as its biggest recurring customer vanished suddenly. Such a pattern exists in financial markets and there’s no fun in any of the examples. The end of quantitative easing programs by central banks is almost always followed by volatility. Large rebalancing events in major index funds are correlated with stocks reverting a portion of their gains. The mechanism is the same here. ETH’s price has somewhat factored into BitMine’s buying schedule. Once that pace slows down, the market will have to work hard to fill the demand shortfall, and it is not certain they will be willing to pay the same price. BitMine May Stop Buying — But Not Sell The bear case theory is that when people stop purchasing, they start selling. However, that’s what BitMine has indicated. The firm’s claim is that it will keep and stake — and with 5% of the supply, staking rewards are a strong financial engine. At the current Ethereum network rates, 5% of the locked ETH will generate the passive income of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. That yield can be reinvested in the system, can be used to finance system operations, or can be returned to shareholders – all without the sale of any token. Further, the ownership of 5% could itself become a price catalyst. According to BitMine’s thesis, once this milestone is achieved, it will become the “Wall Street put”, meaning that institutional and sovereign buyers will likely buy the BMNR stock as the best way to gain exposure to ETH, increasing demand for BMNR shares and indirectly for ETH. BitMine’s ETH Empire Carries Systemic Risk Optimism, however, must be tempered. It hasn’t been easy for BitMine. At one point during Ethereum’s 40% correction from its August 2025 peak, the company was sitting on roughly $4 billion in unrealized losses — a sobering reminder that holding 5% of an asset does not protect you from that asset’s volatility. The hold strategy could be overcome by the pressure from the shareholders to sell the shares if the share price dips far below the NAV of BitMine’s ETH position. This is exactly what has occurred with other crypto asset treasury firms as their stock fell below NAV and their only option was to repurpose funds from crypto sales for share repurchases. This is not going to be a soft landing for a forced BitMine, it’s a supply shock.
