Tom Lee’s BitMine Buys $43M in Ether as Strategy Freezes BTC Adds and Eyes $1.25B Sale

Two corporate crypto treasuries just flashed very different signals. BitMine Immersion Technologies kept buying Ether into weakness, while Strategy—long the bellwether for corporate Bitcoin accumulation—held fire and moved to monetize part of its stack.

BitMine purchased nearly $43 million worth of ETH last week despite falling prices. The firm’s Ethereum holdings now exceed 5.7 million ETH, valued around $9 billion. It also holds roughly 206 BTC, worth $12.3 million. Chairman Tom Lee called it a tough stretch for crypto as ETH slid 8% on the week, yet he pointed to constructive developments: the launch of Ethlabs and a softer tone from the Bank of England on stablecoins. He reiterated a long-term stance, citing tailwinds like agentic payments and the ongoing institutional build-out of crypto rails. He also flagged quarter-end “window dressing,” where some managers trim losers into June close.

Market context underscores the resolve. ETH is down 22% over the past month at $1,567—about 68% below its $4,946 all-time high. Bitcoin has fared a bit better, off 19% in a month and more than 52% below its $126,080 peak, recently at $59,324.

On the ecosystem front, Ethlabs—a new nonprofit R&D shop focused on the Ethereum network and its native asset—debuted with financial backing from BitMine and rival treasury player Sharplink. That signals direct corporate sponsorship of protocol-level research at a time when programmable settlement, payments, and identity are inching from pilots toward production.

Equity markets have not rewarded BitMine’s conviction. BMNR shares have fallen nearly 17% over the last five sessions and more than 31% in a month, lately trading at $13.21—down about 2.6% on Monday. The stock is now more than 91% below its 52-week high of $161, set shortly after the company adopted an Ethereum-first treasury strategy last June.

Strategy, which popularized the balance-sheet-as-bitcoin strategy under Executive Chairman Michael Saylor starting in 2020, broke from its near-weekly buying cadence and did not add BTC last week. Against scrutiny of its preferred equity instrument, STRC—hitting new lows on Friday—the firm approved plans to sell up to $1.25 billion of Bitcoin to raise cash for dividend payments.

The hinge here is capital discipline versus signal value. BitMine is leaning into dollar-cost averaging on ETH during drawdowns, effectively acting as a structural bid for the asset. That can be rational if you believe Ethereum’s transaction layer and “agentic” payment flows will capture more real economy throughput over time. It also deepens the firm’s active role in the network via Ethlabs, which could accelerate tooling and research that make ETH rails more attractive to institutions.

The other path—Strategy’s pause and potential BTC sales—reflects a different prioritization: protecting balance sheet flexibility and funding shareholder yield amid financing pressure. In equity markets that have turned volatile, converting a portion of crypto reserves into fiat to buttress dividends can reduce reflexivity risk—where falling token prices compress the stock, and a weaker stock raises the cost of capital, which then constrains treasury strategy.

Psychologically, both moves are consistent with their brands. One signals unwavering conviction in ETH’s future utility; the other shows a willingness to modulate accumulation in response to market and financing conditions. Neither stance is costless. BitMine absorbs higher equity volatility and scrutiny on concentration risk. Strategy risks near-term selling pressure on BTC and questions about whether the accumulation era is entering a more tactical phase.

In the near term, watch two flows: BitMine’s weekly ETH purchases as a marginal bid into a 22% monthly drawdown, and any execution against Strategy’s up-to-$1.25 billion BTC sale authorization. Meanwhile, supportive policy cues (like the Bank of England’s tone on stablecoins) and new research capacity from Ethlabs could offset some cyclical weakness. If utility catalysts take hold, BitMine’s bet may look prescient; if risk appetite stays muted into quarter-end, cash preservation will read as the steadier hand.