BitMine to Reduce Ethereum Demand

BitMine nears Ethereum goal, plans to slow purchases, says Tom Lee.

BitMine is nearing its Ethereum accumulation goal and plans to decelerate its purchasing pace. This was announced by Chairman Tom Lee at the Consensus 2026 conference in Miami, reports CoinDesk.

The firm holds over 5.1 million ETH valued at $11.9 billion. Initially, BitMine aimed to accumulate 5% of the total asset supply over five years. A year into the strategy, the company controls 4.29% of the issuance.

At the current rate of 100,000 ETH per week, the target will be reached in about a month and a half, prompting management to discuss slowing down purchases.

BitMine is one of the few major companies that continued buying cryptocurrency during the market correction. In contrast, Strategy resorted to selling bitcoins to pay dividends.

Lee emphasized that BitMine remains profitable through staking and cash generation. Approximately 85% of the company’s assets are locked in protocols, yielding over $300 million annually or about $111 million daily. This allows the firm to avoid selling coins during periods of high volatility.

The freed-up capital will be directed towards a $444 billion share buyback and the development of the institutional platform MAVAN. The service already manages $14 billion in assets in ETH, Solana, and Canton.

BitMine is also investing in projects at the intersection of AI and consumer platforms, including Eightco Holdings and Beast Industries. Lee believes Ethereum will benefit from the tokenization of financial assets and the advancement of artificial intelligence systems.

Ethereum at $60,000

Two days earlier, speaking at Paris Blockchain Week, Lee declared the end of the bear trend. In his view, the current downturn was a “mini-crypto winter,” and the stock market has already bottomed out.

Lee described Ethereum as the most profitable asset since the onset of the Middle Eastern crisis: the cryptocurrency outperformed the energy sector and the S&P 500 index by nearly 20%.

The analyst forecasted the altcoin’s price to rise to $12,000 in the near term and to $60,000 by 2028. His optimism is based on two factors: widespread asset tokenization and the development of AI systems.

According to BitMine’s chairman, blockchains will become the settlement base for AI agents, as neural networks find it more convenient to use cryptocurrencies for micropayments instead of traditional banking systems.

On May 1, Ethereum Foundation completed its third over-the-counter ether sale to BitMine. The firm acquired 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292.