BitMine expanded its Ethereum holdings this week with nearly 200 million USD in new purchases, enhancing its position as the largest asset owner.
This move comes as ETH trades near a one-month low and follows a period of steady distribution by medium-sized wallets, according to on-chain data.
BitMine's acquisitions come amid small ETH holders gradually selling.
Lookonchain cited data from Arkham Intelligence reporting that BitMine purchased 22,676 ETH from BitGo on December 6 for approximately 68.7 million USD, indicating an average purchase price of about 3,028 USD per token.
Notably, the company had already purchased 41,946 ETH the day before from FalconX and BitGo for approximately 130.8 million USD.
These deals follow BitMine's disclosure last week that the company holds 3.73 million ETH as of November 30, which at current prices are worth over 11 billion USD.
BitMine also reported holdings of 192 BTC in Eightco Holdings valued at 36 million USD and cash of 882 million USD.
Data from Strategy ETH Reserve shows that the company now holds more ETH than the five main competitors combined, including SharpLink and the Ethereum Foundation.
The size of the treasury makes BitMine the second-largest corporate crypto holder, with only Strategy led by Michael Saylor, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, surpassing it.
The latest purchases occurred during a period when ETH was softening. Data from BeInCrypto shows that the token has dropped more than 10% in the past month, now around 3,027 USD.
Alphractal’s Ethereum Accumulation Heatmap indicates that wallets holding 1 to 10,000 ETH sold heavily near the peak of this cycle, while those addresses continue to release tokens, creating pressure on the market.
However, large whales holding over 10,000 ETH show limited activity, with light distribution but no heavy accumulation.
Despite the softening conditions, several analysts still maintain a positive long-term outlook.
The CEO of Fundstrat and Chairman of BitMine, Tom Lee, said that Ethereum could reach 12,000 USD if Bitcoin goes up to 250,000 USD due to the historical correlation between these two assets and the increasing demand for real-world tokenized assets.
He added that ETH could rise as high as 62,000 USD if its value-to-Bitcoin ratio expands over time.
