Tom Lee's Bitmine Taps the Brakes on ETH Buys, Pivots $86M Into Stock Buyback

Ethereum treasury company Bitmine barely moved the needle on its $ETH stack last week, adding just 7,430 $ETH—about $14 million—as it steered capital toward buying back its own shares instead.

This week’s buy pushed Bitmine's holdings to about 5.78 million $ETH tokens, or nearly 4.8% of Ethereum's circulating supply, according to the company. That leaves the firm inching toward its stated goal of cornering 5% of the token's supply. Bitmine, which trades as BMNR, is currently trading for $16.61, up almost 6% on the day.

Bitmine now holds roughly $11 billion worth of Ethereum, making it the largest corporate holder of $ETH in the world. It’s also one of the biggest digital asset treasuries, second only to Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which itself holds roughly $54 billion in Bitcoin.

Still, for Bitmine, this latest purchase marks one of the company's thinnest weekly additions since it kicked off its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025. The contrast is stark: Bitmine scooped up more than 111,000 $ETH in a single week back in May.

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee pinned the slowdown on a share repurchase, telling shareholders the firm bought back roughly 5.5 million common shares at an average price of $15.62 under its $4 billion buyback authorization. (Disclosure: Tom Lee is an investor in Dastan, Decrypt’s parent company.)

"The reduced pace of buys reflects that Bitmine repurchased 5.5 million common shares," Lee said. He noted the company has bought $ETH every week since launching the strategy just over a year ago.

Apart from its $ETH holdings, the company also today reported a stash of 207 Bitcoin, $385 million in cash and securities, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries and a $58 million position in Eightco Holdings.

The company also said it has staked 4.92 million $ETH—about 85% of its holdings—for projected annualized revenue near $247 million via its MAVAN validator platform.