Bitmine Slows ETH Buying as Share Repurchases Take Priority

Bitmine Immersion, the Ethereum treasury company chaired by Tom Lee, bought 7,391 ETH last week, according to CoinDesk. The purchase was valued at about $14.2 million at the cited ether price of $1,915 and brought the company’s holdings to more than 5.8 million ETH, or roughly 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply.

The slowdown matters because Bitmine has been one of the largest corporate buyers of ETH, and its latest weekly addition was its smallest of 2026. CoinDesk reported that the company had previously made weekly purchases above 100,000 ETH earlier this year, making the latest haul a sharp step down in pace.

The shift is consistent with earlier comments from Lee that Bitmine would slow crypto accumulation as it moved closer to its stated goal of owning 5% of ether’s supply. Instead, the firm has been putting more capital into its own stock, repurchasing another 3 million shares last week at an estimated cost of $50 million to $58 million based on the period’s trading range.

Since July, Bitmine has bought back 19.1 million of its shares. The company also holds 209 BTC, $104 million in cash and marketable securities, and stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings, according to the report.

Lee also addressed the broader policy and macro backdrop. While he said he was disappointed that the CLARITY Act did not get a Senate vote before the August recess, he pointed to softer inflation and jobs data as a market focus and said easing financial conditions could be supportive for crypto.