BitMine increases its Ethereum holdings to $13 billion
May 5, 2026
BitMine has recently made a significant purchase of 101,745 ETH, amounting to around $237.7 million. This acquisition has boosted BitMine’s Ethereum holdings to a total of 5,180,131 ETH, which represents approximately 4.29% of the entire Ethereum market supply. The company’s ultimate objective is to control 5% of all issued Ethereum coins.
In addition to their substantial Ethereum holdings, BitMine also owns 200 BTC, stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings, and holds $700 million in cash. When factoring in these other assets, the total estimated value of BitMine’s reserves stands at an impressive $13.1 billion. Moreover, a large portion of their accumulated coins, specifically 84% of them (4.36 million ETH), are locked in staking through their proprietary platform MAVAN. This staking generates an annual income of approximately $297 million for BitMine, with a yield of 2.91%.
BitMine’s CEO, Tom Lee, attributes the recent surge in Ethereum purchases to the end of what he calls the “mini-crypto winter.” Lee predicts that demand for Ethereum will continue to rise, especially as more artificial intelligence systems that rely on public blockchains continue to develop.
Moving beyond BitMine, the first quarter of 2026 saw public companies collectively acquire 50,351 BTC. This influx of bitcoins has pushed the total volume of BTC on public company balance sheets to 1.15 million BTC, which accounts for 5.47% of the entire market supply. Notably, this represents a 4.6% increase from the previous quarter’s figures.
During this period of increased BTC acquisitions, Strategy dominated the market by purchasing approximately 89,000 BTC. However, due to a 20% drop in the exchange rate, the company faced an unrealized loss of $14.46 billion on this position. Japanese company Metaplanet also made significant moves by rising to third place globally in terms of bitcoin reserves, with a total of 40,177 BTC in their portfolio.
Conversely, MARA Holdings decided to reduce their reserve by selling off 15,133 BTC in order to settle debts. Overall, public miners collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC during the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the total for the entirety of 2025.
Analysts have noted a distinct market divide among companies’ use of BTC: entities like Strategy and Metaplanet are utilizing bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset, whereas cryptocurrency miners are selling off coins in order to maintain financial solvency. This dichotomy in approach reflects varying strategies in navigating the volatile crypto market landscape.
In a separate development, Tether’s investment division proposed a merger of three companies to establish a prominent public organization within the bitcoin industry, signaling ongoing consolidation and growth within the sector.
