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Bitmine ups ETH holdings amid market stress
Bitmine has added another 17,242 ETH — roughly $49 million — to its corporate treasury, according to on-chain analytics shared by Onchain Lens on Nov. 21. The firm, which transitioned from pure mining to running a crypto treasury, now holds approximately 3.5 million ETH, a stake valued at over $10 billion. That accumulation reinforces Bitmine’s stated objective to amass a long-term Ethereum reserve and eventually control about 5% of circulating ETH supply.
Buy strategy and execution
Most of Bitmine’s purchases are routed through large over-the-counter (OTC) desks, including FalconX and BitGo. The company has treated recent price weakness as buying opportunities, leaning on a mix of equity raises, cash reserves, and staking rewards to fund acquisitions. These steady inflows highlight a deliberate ETH accumulation strategy during volatile market conditions, underpinned by conviction in Ethereum’s role for decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contracts, and tokenization.
Tom Lee: market makers still repairing balance sheets
Tom Lee, Bitmine’s chairman and Fundstrat co-founder, told CNBC that lingering market weakness is linked to strained liquidity among major market makers. He pointed to the Oct. 10 liquidation cascade — which forced roughly $20 billion of liquidations across crypto — as the shock that left some liquidity providers with impaired balance sheets.
Why market makers matter
Market makers provide the liquidity that allows trades to execute smoothly across exchanges and OTC venues. When these firms cut activity to shore up capital, trading depth thins and spreads widen, creating extra price pressure during sell-offs. Lee said some firms are reducing balance-sheet exposure further as they recover, which has produced a gradual drag on both Bitcoin and Ethereum prices.
Timing and market outlook
Lee compared the current episode to a similar liquidity unwind in 2022 that took around eight weeks to stabilize. He said the market is about six weeks into this process and anticipated it might take a couple more weeks before pressure eases and market makers re-expand activity. If correct, resumption of normal market-maker operations would likely restore liquidity and reduce volatility in ETH and BTC markets.
What this means for investors
Large, deliberate buys by corporate treasuries like Bitmine can signal long-term conviction in Ethereum’s fundamentals. For traders and institutional investors, the immediate risk is constrained liquidity and heightened slippage during large trades. Over the medium term, resumed market-maker participation and continued on-chain demand — including staking rewards that generate additional ETH for treasuries — should help normalize price dynamics.
Key takeaways
- Bitmine purchased 17,242 ETH (~$49M), bringing its holdings to about 3.5M ETH.
- Purchases have been executed via OTC desks such as FalconX and BitGo and financed through equity raises, cash, and staking.
- Tom Lee warns that market makers are still repairing balance sheets after the Oct. 10 liquidation shock, creating a liquidity squeeze.
- Lee expects the liquidity drag to dissipate in the coming weeks, mirroring past stabilization patterns.
Bitmine’s continued accumulation amid constrained market-maker liquidity underscores a broader dynamic in crypto: large institutional buyers can drive meaningful on-chain accumulation even when short-term trading liquidity is impaired. Traders, liquidity providers, and long-term investors will closely watch how market makers rebuild capacity and how corporate treasuries like Bitmine shape on-chain supply distribution.
Source: crypto
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