Bitmine, the world’s largest Ethereum treasury, has stepped up its ETH buying during the latest crypto market downturn, making its biggest purchase of 2026 so far.
Related Reading: Analyst Charts Ethereum Long-Term Roadmap To $16,000 – There’s No Need To Panic
Bitmine Doubles Down On Ethereum
On Monday, Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced it had bought over 126,971 ETH—worth about $214 million—during last week’s price drop. This is the treasury’s largest purchase this year. Now, Bitmine’s total crypto and cash holdings are worth $9.6 billion at current prices. That includes 5,543,872 ETH at $1,630 each, 204 Bitcoin (BTC), a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, an $88 million stake in Eightco Holdings as part of its “Moonshots” initiative, and $247 million in cash.
In a statement, Bitmine’s Chairman, Tom Lee, explained that the company saw the recent price dip—which pushed Ethereum to a one-year low of $1,505 on Sunday—as a buying opportunity. He argued that Ethereum’s fundamentals are getting stronger. “We increased our buying because we believe this pullback in ETH prices doesn’t reflect the strengthening of Ethereum’s fundamentals. That’s not surprising, since we’re in the early stages of crypto spring,” he said.
Lee argued that the broader crypto market sell-off was a “superficial take,” driven more by short-term panic than real weakness. He also said the recent Zcash Orchard incident actually strengthens Ethereum’s use case. “AI systems are going to find flaws in centralized financial services and weak decentralized protocols. We believe this actually strengthens the use case and product-market fit for hardened, reliable decentralized blockchains like Ethereum.” As a result, the treasury firm believes “ETH prices should not be under pressure,” he added.
After this latest purchase, the firm’s ETH holdings now make up 4.59% of the altcoin’s total supply. Lee expects the company to reach its 5% supply goal “sometime in 2026.”
ETH Eyes Key Technical Level
Despite Bitmine’s continued bet on Ethereum, the king of altcoins has struggled over the past week, dropping about 15% and losing the February lows for the first time in four months. Market observer Ash Crypto noted that ETH is repeating a pattern seen once before during the last bear market. “Back in June 2022, ETH broke through every support level and crashed to $880. Everyone gave up on it. That turned out to be the exact bottom of the whole bear market,” he wrote.
This time, Ethereum has fallen 68% from its 2025 peak and broken through every support level after losing the 200-week Moving Average (MA), which sits around $2,471. Now, the next key support to watch is at $1,500. That level could decide whether ETH repeats its previous pattern.
Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Worst Week Of 2026 Is Happening Right Now — QCP Explains Why The Bottom Isn’t In Yet
If ETH holds at $1,500, the market watcher believes the setup could play out exactly like in 2022, which led to a 5x increase over the next 18 months. On the other hand, if Ethereum loses $1,500 on the weekly timeframe, he suggested the price could fall all the way to the $1,000 area, where the next major support zone is located.
As of this writing, ETH is trading at $1,687, up 4.8% in the daily timeframe.
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of frequently asked questions about Bitmines record Ethereum purchase in 2026 and Tom Lees comments on the market selloff designed to be clear natural and helpful
General Beginner Questions
Q What happened with Bitmine and Ethereum in 2026
A Bitmine a major crypto mining and investment firm made the largest single purchase of Ethereum in 2026 The exact amount hasnt been fully disclosed but its reported to be worth billions of dollars
Q Why is this such a big deal
A Its a recordbreaking buy It signals that a big institutional player has massive confidence in Ethereums longterm value even when the market is shaky
Q Who is Tom Lee and what did he say
A Tom Lee is a wellknown Wall Street strategist and cofounder of Fundstrat Global Advisors He recently said that the current market selloff is not the start of a longterm crash but a temporary pullback
Q Did Tom Lee say to buy or sell right now
A He didnt give explicit buy or sell advice for today But he downplayed the selloff suggesting its a normal correction and not a reason to panic His tone is generally optimistic for the long term
Q How does Bitmines purchase relate to Tom Lees comments
A They seem to agree Bitmine is putting huge money where its mouth is while Tom Lee is saying the recent price drop isnt a disaster Both actionscomments suggest confidence in cryptos future
Intermediate Practical Questions
Q Was Bitmines purchase a sign that the selloff is over
A Not necessarily One big buy doesnt stop a selloff but it does show that some major players see the lower prices as a buying opportunity It can help stabilize sentiment but markets can still drop further
Q Should I buy Ethereum now because Bitmine did