The position growth model is about to shift from purchasing in the secondary market to pledge returns.

Written by: Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, stated that once BitMine's holdings of Ethereum reach 5% of the total supply of the currency, the company will stop accumulating. This strategy makes BitMine the largest corporate holder of Ethereum.

At the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore, Lee said BitMine is close to this limit and will not continue to stock up indefinitely. He stated:

“We only need to buy another 100,000 ETH to reach a 5% stake.”

It is noteworthy that the company is actually closer to the target than Lee's estimate. According to the latest disclosures, as of October 4, BitMine holds 6,016,414 ETH, accounting for 4.9% of the total supply of 122.1 million ETH used in this document. This means BitMine needs about 88,586 ETH more to achieve the 5% target of the total supply.

Source: Bitmine official website Chairman's video message on October 7, 2026

Based on an estimated ETH price of $2,500, completing the remaining purchase would require about $221 million. BitMine disclosed that it holds $643 million in cash and securities, providing ample liquidity to cover this purchase while still retaining most of its funds.

BitMine is expected to reach the 5% limit within weeks

Even if BitMine slows down its accumulation pace, with the current buying speed, it is expected to reach the 5% limit set by Tom Lee before the end of the year. In the week ending October 4, the company purchased an additional 15,112 ETH. At this rate, buying the remaining 88,586 ETH will take about 5.9 weeks, with an expected milestone achievement by mid-November.

If the purchasing pace accelerates, the time will be shortened: buying 20,000 ETH weekly would complete the purchase in about 4.4 weeks; if it slows down to 10,000 ETH weekly, it would take 8.9 weeks, pushing the milestone to early December.

All the above are projections and not firm plans by the company. BitMine has not committed to a fixed weekly purchase amount, and changes in the total supply of Ethereum will also affect the quantity of tokens corresponding to the 5% position threshold.

Additionally, there are signs that BitMine may have completed a new round of purchases after the latest disclosed data. The blockchain analysis platform Lookonchain reported on October 7 that the company allegedly purchased another 12,500 ETH through BitGo, worth $33.65 million. This transaction has not yet been included in the official BitMine position update and thus was not counted in previous time calculations. If this transaction is confirmed, the remaining gap will shrink to approximately 76,086 ETH, and the company will reach Lee's set limit sooner than originally estimated.

This means BitMine is about to undergo a strategic shift. Once constrained by the 5% limit, the company's ETH position growth will mainly rely on staking rewards rather than continued purchasing in the secondary market.

Staking rewards replace secondary market accumulation

BitMine has made staking an important source of revenue for its Ethereum treasury. As of October 4, the company staked approximately 5.07 million ETH, accounting for 84% of its total holdings, with this position having an estimated annual yield of up to $363 million. BitMine calculates that under a hypothetical annual yield of 2.63%, if all ETH were staked, the annual yield would rise to about $431 million. As the company can no longer continue to buy coins in the market to expand its positions, the importance of staking income will continue to rise.

However, the staking output tokens also pose a challenge to the rigid limit set by Lee. Staking rewards will continue to add tokens to BitMine. When the holdings approach 5% of Ethereum's total supply, even if no further public market purchases are made, staking rewards will push the holdings over that threshold.

BitMine has not yet decided how to manage this excess token portion. Optional solutions include reserving less room for accumulation, adjusting the handling of staking rewards, and if necessary, selling some ETH to maintain the holding ratio without exceeding the limit.

Moreover, the 5% target threshold will also fluctuate with the total supply of Ethereum: if ETH supply contracts, the quantity corresponding to the 5% limit will decrease; if supply expands, it can accommodate more tokens.

As the coin hoarding phase comes to an end, BitMine faces a new challenge in fund management. For the past year, the company's focus has been on continuously purchasing ETH; in the future, to maintain the position limit set by Lee, it will have to manage the staking tokens continuously generated by its existing treasury.