- Tom Lee continues stockpiling Ethereum despite the crypto downturn.
- Lee says "supercycle" is intact thanks to several key macroeconomic catalysts.
Bitmine bought another $435 million worth of Ethereum in the first week of December as the company’s stock price extended a 45% rally from last month’s lows.
“Our stepped up buying activity reflects our confidence that Ethereum prices should strengthen in the months ahead given multiple catalysts,” Bitmine Chair Tom Lee said Monday.
Fusaka, a major upgrade to the $376 billion network, rolled out on December 3 and “delivers an array of improvements in scalability, enhanced security, and usability,” Lee said.
Bitmine, which is backed by heavyweight investors including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Cathie Wood’s ARK, now owns 3.2% of the total Ethereum token supply, with a stated target of 5%.
Investors are bullish on the company’s consistent accumulation of the second-largest crypto, as reflected by BMNR’s 23% rally in December to $36 per share.
The firm plans to pay shareholders a year-end dividend on December 29, a rarity among crypto treasuries.
Ethereum has rallied nearly 20% since its November lows. It is trading at around $3,100 at the time of reporting.
To be sure, it still trades 37% below its all-time high set in August.
Bitmine’s latest purchase comes after the company deployed $200 million into the second-biggest crypto on November 24.
‘1971 moment’
Ethereum is having its “1971 moment,” Lee said in a presentation to investors.
That means Ethereum’s technology can be compared to the global financial architecture that emerged after the US unilaterally terminated the Bretton Woods gold standard and set the rules of modern finance.
“The Genius Act and SEC’s Project Crypto are as transformational to financial services in 2025 as US action on August 15, 1971 ending Bretton Woods and the USD on the gold standard 54 years ago,” Lee said.
Lee said big players like BlackRock, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of China are all building on the Ethereum blockchain.
“This 1971 event was the catalyst for the modernisation of Wall Street, creating the iconic Wall Street titans and financial and payment rails of today. These proved to be better investments than gold,” he said.
Best years ahead
Bitmine’s stockpiling comes as the Fusaka upgrade aligns with macroeconomic tailwinds.
“The best years are ahead for crypto given the substantial upside to current adoption rates for crypto and given the coming transformation as Wall Street tokenises everything onto the blockchain,” Lee said on Monday as part of a keynote speech titled “The Crypto Supercycle is Intact.”
He expects the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates on Wednesday as it finishes the quantitative tightening cycle.
Lower interest rates are usually good for risk-on assets like Ethereum because they disincentivise holding safe-haven bonds by reducing yields.
“We are now more than eight weeks past the October 10 liquidation shock event, a sufficient length of time to allow crypto to again trade on forward fundamentals,” he said.
The odds of a 0.25% cut in interest rates by the Fed in December now stand at 89%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Bettors on Polymarket are even more optimistic at 95%.
Bitmine will hold its next annual shareholders meeting in January 2026.
Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email at lance@dlnews.com.