Tom Lee said BitMine will stop accumulating ETH when it reaches 5% of the Ethereum supply, and that based on its holdings at the time of his speech, it had about 100,000 ETH left to reach the target.
According to Wu Blockchain’s account of the speech at TOKEN2049, the company set 5% of the total supply as a hard cap for its ETH holdings. Lee’s remarks establish a measurable threshold for how much longer BitMine’s purchases could continue.
About 100,000 Ethereum left to reach the target
Lee said BitMine held approximately 6 million ETH at the time of his speech. According to the figures he provided, that amount represents approximately 4.9% of the Ethereum supply.
He put the additional amount needed to reach the 5% target at approximately 100,000 ETH. The point at which purchases will stop is tied to this share of the supply rather than a specific calendar date.
He relayed Vitalik Buterin’s recommendation
Lee said Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had also recommended that the company stop at the 5% level. He thus described the percentage, long cited as an accumulation target, as the threshold at which the company will end its purchases.
No specific date was given for when the company will reach this threshold. The statement concerns purchases up to the target; it does not include a decision to sell its existing ETH holdings.
A five-year plan advanced in a little over a year
According to Lee, the accumulation was initially expected to take five years. BitMine reached its current amount, which is close to the target, in a little over a year. Lee said the entire accumulation took place under bear market conditions.
For Ethereum investors, the key point in the announcement is not a new weekly purchase amount so much as when a major institutional buyer plans to stop accumulating.
Not investment advice.