BitMine Sets 5% Ether Supply Hard Cap as Its Accumulation Target Gets Close

BitMine Immersion Technologies will not hold more than 5% of all Ether in circulation, Chairman Tom Lee said at Token2049 in Singapore on Wednesday. The company already owns roughly 6 million ETH, about 4.9% of the supply, and needs around 100,000 more to hit its goal. Lee called the figure a hard cap and said BitMine will not buy beyond it.

Why Tom Lee Calls It a Hard Cap

Earlier, Lee had kept the door open to owning more than 5%, depending on how Ethereum adoption played out. In an August interview with Bankless, he suggested the company might look at that question again in 2027. Now the target has turned into a firm ceiling.

BitMine Says It Is Done Stacking Ether

Lee said most of the buying took place during a crypto bear market, which let the company build its position while prices were low. He believes that approach protected the downside for ETH, and he described the firm as done stacking ahead of a potential 25X move. He also argued that a fixed cap should help BitMine outperform Ether on the way up, since it no longer has to raise fresh capital to keep buying.

How BitMine Funded Its Ether Treasury

The company has used capital markets to grow its holdings. In June it launched a $300 million perpetual preferred stock offering, and by early August it had repurchased 16.1 million common shares under a $4 billion buyback program.

Staking Rewards and the 5% Ceiling

Staking could still add to BitMine’s balance after purchases end. Lee has said the company could sell ETH earned through staking so its share of supply stays at or below 5%.