Bitmine Adds $74 Million in Ether as Tom Lee Bets on Regulatory Clarity

Bitmine Immersion, the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, purchased 42,197 ETH last week worth about $74 million, marking an increase from its prior week’s buy of 27,084 ETH. The purchase pushed the company’s total holdings to 5.74 million ETH, valued at close to $10 billion and representing 4.8% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply. Chairman Thomas Lee has said the firm is working toward controlling 5% of the asset’s supply.

Beyond ether, Bitmine also holds 206 bitcoin, $527 million in cash and marketable securities, along with stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings. Combined, the company’s crypto, cash and investment holdings now total $11.1 billion.

Bitmine Buys While Strategy Sells

The purchase stands in contrast to moves at Strategy, which recently sold around $216 million worth of BTC to raise cash. The sale represented a rare reduction in Strategy’s holdings and reflected funding pressure tied to dividend obligations amid a broader crypto downturn.

This divergence, Bitmine buying while Strategy sold, coincided with ether outperforming bitcoin by about 6% over the past week, following a stretch of near-continuous decline since August.

Lee Points to Clarity Act as Key Catalyst

Lee tied Ethereum’s relative strength to rising optimism around the Clarity Act, a proposed piece of U.S. crypto legislation. He noted prediction markets now place roughly a 50% probability on the bill passing, the highest level in two weeks. Lee said regulatory clarity would be a major milestone for smart contract platforms like Ethereum, pointing to layer-2 networks already processing USDC payments for companies including Shopify and Visa as evidence blockchain technology is moving into everyday use.

Bitmine has also staked more than 4.8 million ETH through its MAVAN platform and related infrastructure, generating ongoing staking income. Those staked holdings are currently worth close to $8.5 billion.