Bitmine bought 9,587 ETH in the week preceding its Nov. 9, 2026 update, bringing its holdings to 6,070,092 ETH and moving it close to its target of owning 5% of ether’s circulating supply, The Block reported.
The Ethereum treasury company, chaired by Tom Lee, valued its ether holdings at more than $12.9 billion at prices cited in the report. Its latest purchase was worth approximately $20.3 million at those prices; Bitmine did not disclose its average purchase price.
Nearing the 5% target
Bitmine’s holdings represented approximately 4.97% of ether’s circulating supply of roughly 122.2 million ETH, according to The Block’s ether price page. The company said it was 99% of the way toward its “Alchemy of 5%” target after starting its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025.
As of Nov. 9, Bitmine said it had staked 5,227,037 ETH, worth approximately $11.1 billion—more than 86% of its total ether holdings.
Lee put annualized staking rewards at $309 million at that staking level. The company projected $359 million in annualized rewards once all its ether holdings were staked. Those figures describe annualized rewards and a company projection, not guaranteed future income.
Lee’s “supercycle” argument
Lee linked his investment thesis to tokenization and AI, citing remarks he attributed to Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin at Devcon 8 in Mumbai: “I’ve finally made up my mind, ETH is a store of value, ETH is money.”
Lee described that declaration as, in his view, a “seismic shift” in explaining how ETH could capture value in a coming tokenization and AI “supercycle.”
He also argued that ETH was not a “cash flow” token model like HYPE or LIT, but rather “pristine and trusted collateral.” Lee said this reflected Ethereum’s role as the Layer 1 chosen by the vast majority of financial institutions moving assets onto blockchains.
These were Lee’s views. The reported acquisition and staking totals document Bitmine’s treasury expansion; they do not establish that the predicted supercycle will occur or demonstrate an effect on ether’s price.
The broader treasury
Bitmine reported total crypto, cash, marketable securities and other investments of $14.3 billion. As of Nov. 8, its holdings also included:
- 216 BTC, valued at $16.1 million.
- A $75 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
- A $180 million stake in Beast Industries.
- $475 million in cash and marketable securities.
According to the report, Bitmine remained the largest Ethereum treasury holder and the second-largest public crypto treasury company overall. It trailed Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which held 850,364 BTC, valued at $63.4 billion, following its latest weekly acquisition.
Original source: The Block, published Nov. 9, 2026, at 22:31:38 UTC+08:00. All valuations above reflect the original report’s pricing context.
