Bitmine just made its biggest ETH move of 2026 — adding 101,627 Ethereum in a single week. That brings total holdings close to 5 million ETH and a massive $12.9B combined position. Not small money. Not random timing.

At the same time, Chairman Tom Lee is calling something bold: the crypto winter may already be near its end.

His argument is simple. Previous bear markets needed deep stock market crashes (20%+). This time? Equities barely pulled back ~8%. Different macro, different cycle.

And the data is starting to support it.

Exchange reserves just dropped to ~14.6M ETH — lowest since 2016. That means less sell pressure. Spot ETFs are also waking up again, pulling in $275M+ last week. Meanwhile, accumulation addresses are now overtaking whale wallets, suggesting real buying, not just waiting.

Still, ETH sits ~50% below its 2025 peak. So the question is obvious:

Is this quiet accumulation before a major move… or just another fake start?

Smart money seems to be choosing a side already.