Bitmine's Record 2026 Ethereum Acquisition Fuels Tom Lee's Supercycle Prediction
Following Ethereum's decline under $2,200, Bitmine executed its largest 2026 acquisition of 111,942 Ether tokens in a single week.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a company dedicated to acquiring Ether, has completed its most substantial purchase of 2026 to date, while its chairman Tom Lee reinforced his conviction about an approaching crypto supercycle.
In a statement released Tuesday, Lee disclosed that Bitmine acquired 111,942 Ether (ETH) during the previous week, capitalizing on a market correction that pushed the token's value beneath $2,200, creating what he characterized as an "attractive opportunity." Throughout the last seven days, Ether has fluctuated within a range of $2,025 to $2,147.
Lee also reinforced his prediction of an upcoming supercycle for cryptocurrency and Ethereum, propelled by Wall Street's growing enthusiasm for tokenization and artificial intelligence-powered agents.
We continue to expect a supercycle ahead for crypto and Ethereum, driven by the dual drivers of Wall Street tokenization and agentic AI. And thus, we continue to steadily acquire ETH, with Bitmine now owning nearly 5.4 million ETH tokens.
Tom Lee
Earlier in the month, Bitmine reduced the velocity of its Ethereum acquisitions after completing a three-week streak during which it purchased more than 100,000 ETH weekly. As the premier Ethereum treasury corporation, the company has maintained a consistent acquisition strategy throughout market volatility, mirroring the approach employed by Michael Saylor's Bitcoin-focused treasury company Strategy.
The company's objective is to acquire 5% of the total circulating supply of Ether, which currently stands at 120.7 million tokens. To achieve its target of exceeding 6 million ETH, Bitmine requires approximately 644,596 additional ETH, a milestone Lee indicated would be reached within the current year.
Ether treasury firms leaning into staking
According to company disclosures, Bitmine has placed more than $4.7 million worth of its Ethereum holdings into staking, with projections indicating annualized staking revenue of $276 million.
A Tuesday report from Everstake, a staking infrastructure provider, highlighted that Ethereum treasury companies face mounting pressure to produce returns through staking and alternative yield-generating strategies, as the attractiveness of simply holding the asset as a public company has diminished due to growing interest in spot crypto exchange-traded funds.
Throughout the broader Ethereum ecosystem, the volume of staked Ether has achieved a new record, with over 39.2 million tokens, representing approximately 32.19% of the total supply, currently locked in staking contracts, while an additional 3.3 million tokens await entry, as reported by the Ethereum Validator Queue. Simultaneously, the exit queue contains approximately 234,368 Ether awaiting withdrawal.
Ethereum achieved its peak valuation of $4,946 in August 2025 but has subsequently declined by more than 58%. Lee has previously maintained that Ethereum's significant price corrections could represent advantageous entry points for investors.