BitMine Nears Self-Imposed 5% Ethereum Ownership Cap; Buying Could Wrap Up Within Weeks

BitMine Immersion Technologies is approaching a self-imposed limit on its Ethereum accumulation strategy, according to Chairman Tom Lee. Speaking at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, Lee said the company plans to stop buying ETH once its holdings reach 5% of Ethereum's total supply, a threshold that would cap the approach that has made BitMine the largest known corporate holder of the token. "We only need to get another 100,000 ETH to get to 5%," Lee said. Company disclosures suggest the gap is slightly smaller than that rounded figure. As of Oct. 4, BitMine reported holdings of 6,016,414 ETH, representing about 4.9% of the 122.1 million ETH supply cited in its latest filing. On that basis, the company would need roughly 88,586 additional ETH to reach 5%. At an illustrative ETH price of $2,500, that remaining amount would cost about $221 million. BitMine reported $643 million in cash and marketable securities, indicating it has the disclosed liquidity to fund that purchase while retaining most of its cash position. Based on BitMine's most recent disclosed buying pace, the 5% cap could be reached within weeks. The company added 15,112 ETH in the week ending Oct. 4. At that rate, it would take about 5.9 weeks to accumulate the remaining 88,586 ETH, putting the threshold around mid-November. A faster or slower pace would shift the timeline. Purchases of 20,000 ETH per week would close the gap in roughly 4.4 weeks, while 10,000 ETH per week would take about 8.9 weeks, moving the milestone into early December. These scenarios are estimates, not company guidance. BitMine has not committed to a fixed weekly schedule, and changes in Ethereum's total supply would also alter the amount of ETH needed to represent a 5% stake. There are also indications BitMine may have already added to its position beyond the Oct. 4 disclosure. On Oct. 7, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported the company appeared to acquire another 12,500 ETH, valued at $33.65 million, via BitGo. BitMine has not published an official holdings update reflecting that transaction, so it is not included in the projections above. If confirmed, the remaining gap would fall to about 76,086 ETH, potentially bringing the cap closer than suggested by the latest reported balance. As the ceiling nears, BitMine's Ethereum strategy is expected to tilt from market purchases toward staking. The company said it had about 5.07 million ETH staked as of Oct. 4, about 84% of its holdings, and estimated that position could generate roughly $363 million in annualized revenue. BitMine also projects that staking its entire ETH balance could lift annualized revenue to about $431 million, based on a 2.63% annualized yield. Staking income becomes more central once buying is constrained, but it also complicates adherence to a hard 5% cap. Staking rewards continuously add ETH to BitMine's balance sheet, meaning the company could exceed the threshold even without additional open-market purchases. How BitMine will manage that risk has not been specified. Options could include leaving less capacity for purchases, adjusting how staking rewards are handled, or selling some ETH if needed to remain below the limit. The target itself can also shift with Ethereum's total supply. A contraction would reduce the number of ETH corresponding to a 5% stake, while supply growth would expand it. With the accumulation phase potentially nearing its end, BitMine may face a new treasury management challenge: managing the ETH generated by its existing holdings rather than continuing to build the position through ongoing purchases.