Bitmine buys 27,562 ETH as Tom Lee says bull market is underway

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) bought 27,562 ETH last week, according to a Monday press release. Bitmine now holds 5.98 million ETH worth roughly $16.08 billion at current prices. That represents 4.9% of Ethereum's total supply and puts the company 98% of the way to its 5% target. Bitmine has bought ETH every week since launching its treasury strategy on June 30, 2025. Its total crypto and cash holdings now stand at $17.1 billion. The company has 5.07 million ETH staked through its MAVAN platform, generating projected annualized staking revenue of $357 million. Chairman Tom Lee said Ethereum's third-quarter outperformance is the clearest signal that the crypto bull market is underway. ETH has beaten the S&P 500 by 6,519 basis points quarter to date, compared with the 5,866 basis points Bitmine cited two weeks earlier. Lee attributed the move to a rotation from AI stocks back into crypto, stronger fundamentals around tokenization and AI infrastructure, and the end of the four-year cycle. He expects institutions to substantially increase their crypto exposure in the final three months of 2026 because they entered the year underweight after AI stocks dominated early gains. Lee said third-quarter outperformance could precede a stronger fourth-quarter move rather than mark the trend's peak. He delivers the keynote at Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul on September 30. Bitmine remains the world's largest Ethereum treasury and the second-largest crypto treasury globally, behind Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR). Strategy holds 846,000 BTC worth approximately $75 billion. Bitmine also holds a $105 million stake in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS), giving investors indirect exposure to OpenAI through a public equity. Bitmine's average daily dollar trading volume reached $1.2 billion over the past five days. That ranked it 100th among 5,704 US-listed stocks and ahead of Ciena Corp. BMNR rose 6% Monday and moved above the $24 resistance zone that had capped rallies since February. The move also cleared the ascending channel guiding the recovery from the July low of $13. The article said this signaled acceleration rather than another retest. The relative strength index was 64.72, above its moving average and rising, which the article said confirmed momentum without reaching overbought territory. The key levels identified were $24, the 20-day exponential moving average that had become support, and $22.5, the 200-day exponential moving average and deeper support.