Ethereum’s Weekly Buyer to Stop: Tom Lee Reveals the Limit
BitMine Chairman Tom Lee said the company will stop accumulating ETH once it reaches 5% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, setting a limit on its regular purchases.
According to CoinDesk, Lee said at the TOKEN2049 event in Singapore that BitMine needs to buy approximately 100,000 more ETH to reach its target. The company plans to stop buying once it reaches that threshold.
The announcement is significant because it signals that the end may be approaching for the regular demand from BitMine, which has said it buys ETH every week since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025.
The 5% target could be weeks away
According to an update BitMine published Monday, the company bought $41 million worth of ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 6,016,414 ETH. That amount represents 4.9% of the circulating supply of approximately 122.1 million ETH.
If last week’s buying pace continues, accumulating the approximately 100,000 ETH Lee mentioned could take six to seven weeks. This is not a firm end date announced by the company, but a calculation based on its current pace.
Lee said they initially thought reaching the 5% target would take five years, but that they have come close to it in just over a year.
The buying limit is not due to a lack of cash
Monday’s update said BitMine had $643 million in cash and marketable securities. At the ETH price cited in the report, that amount is more than double the sum needed to buy the remaining amount required to reach the target. The announced stopping point is therefore based on the company’s target share of the supply.
Meanwhile, a significant portion of BitMine’s past purchases were made at higher prices. Data from DropsTab cited by CoinDesk shows that the company has approximately $4.5 billion in unrealized losses on its ETH holdings.
Ethereum’s price is also under pressure
At the time this report was being prepared on Wednesday, October 7, Ethereum was trading at around $2,580. ETH fell approximately 5% in the past 24 hours, reaching its lowest level since September 20; its percentage loss was about twice that of Bitcoin.
Alongside this decline amid broader market weakness, BitMine’s buying limit also raises the question of how long institutional demand for Ethereum will continue.