Despite market panic, BitMine continues to increase its holdings of Ethereum against the trend: Why does it maintain strong confidence in ETH?

BitMine Immersion Technologies continues to make large purchases of Ethereum, even as market sentiment remains tense and ETF funds keep flowing out. The company, chaired by Tom Lee, has now become the world’s largest corporate holder of Ethereum and has significantly increased its ETH holdings over the past week.

According to the latest data, BitMine purchased 138,452 ETH within a week, a 156% increase from the previous period, bringing its total holdings to 3.86 million ETH. This accounts for more than 3.2% of Ethereum’s circulating supply and moves it two-thirds of the way toward its goal of holding 5% of ETH’s supply. Since October, the price of ETH has dropped nearly 25%, but BitMine has persisted in buying, demonstrating a clear long-term bullish stance.

Tom Lee stated that BitMine’s accelerated accumulation is mainly based on several key positives: first, Ethereum completed the Fusaka upgrade last week, improving the network’s scalability, security, and efficiency; second, the macro environment may be turning more accommodative, with the Federal Reserve halting quantitative tightening and expectations of another interest rate cut. Lee emphasized that it has been two months since the liquidation shock in October, and the market is returning to a fundamentals-driven state.

However, on-chain data still indicates short-term volatility risks. CryptoOnchain pointed out that mainstream CEXs saw a single-day ETH inflow of 162,084 on December 5, the highest since May 2023, which usually signals a potential increase in selling pressure. In addition, Ethereum ETFs saw a record $1.4 billion net outflow in November 2025, and another $65.5 million outflow in the first week of December, indicating that institutional sentiment remains cautious.

Analysts noted that BitMine’s “direct buying” stands in stark contrast to the ETFs’ “continuous redemptions,” reflecting a strategic divergence between retail and institutional investors. Overall, ETH’s fundamentals remain strong, but short-term volatility is still possible, while BitMine’s contrarian accumulation sends an important signal to the market: long-term capital continues to bet firmly on Ethereum’s future.