Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine, stated at TOKEN2049 in Singapore that the company will stop buying ETH once its holdings reach 5% of the circulating supply, calling this a hard cap. Currently, they are about 100,000 ETH short, which will take approximately six to seven weeks at last week's buying rate.

The company disclosed on Monday that it holds 6,016,414 ETH, approximately 4.9% of the circulating supply of 122.1 million ETH, valued at about $15.5 billion based on Wednesday's price of around $2,580. Last week, they purchased about $41 million more. Since initiating their treasury strategy in June 2025, the company claims to have made weekly purchases.

They also have $643 million in cash and tradable securities. At current prices, the remaining 100,000 ETH would require about $258 million, with cash covering more than twice that amount, meaning they do not need to raise additional funds for this purchase. Lee mentioned that he initially thought it would take five years, but it actually took just over a year, with accumulation occurring during a bear market.

The timing of purchases was not all at low points. A significant portion of the holdings was built during last year's bull market when prices were higher. According to DropsTab, the current ETH holdings have an unrealized loss of about $4.5 billion. After stopping purchases, this unrealized loss will remain on the balance sheet and will not reverse simply because they reach 5%.

ETH dropped about 5% in the past 24 hours on Wednesday, reaching its lowest point since September 20, with a decline nearly double that of Bitcoin. BitMine is listed on the NYSE and is currently the largest Ethereum treasury company. Lee stated that the 5% cap is intended to optimize shareholder value, and they will not increase holdings after reaching this limit.

The buyer is a publicly traded company exchanging cash and tradable securities for ETH, while the seller is the market that has been absorbing these weekly buy orders over the past year. The event is driven by the approaching hard cap, not by a new round of issuance. Approximately $258 million still needs to flow out to complete the remaining purchase, after which this weekly buy order will disappear. Existing shareholders benefit as they no longer need to dilute equity to fill the treasury, while the pricing of ETH that accounts for BitMine's weekly purchases is under pressure.

The 4.9% circulating holdings correspond to an unrealized loss of $4.5 billion. The remaining purchase is affordable and does not change the cost of the already purchased portion. Stopping purchases removes marginal demand, not inventory.

Source: Public Information