Ethereum has fallen sharply over the last week, now trading below $2,300 – a 21% weekly loss and a 27% drop over the month. Despite this downturn, Bitmine, the largest corporate holder of ETH, continues to accumulate.
On February 2, the company confirmed a new purchase of 41,788 ETH, bringing total holdings to 4,285,125 ETH – with 2.9 million of that staked. The firm’s crypto and investment holdings now total $10.7 billion, alongside $586 million in cash and no debt.
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Tom Lee: “This Pullback Looks Attractive”
Bitmine Executive Chairman Tom Lee framed the market drop as an opportunity. “Ethereum on-chain activity and fundamentals have grown solidly in recent months, but ETH prices have declined”, Lee stated, pointing to record daily transactions (2.5M) and all-time highs in active addresses.
“This isn’t like past crypto winters”, he added. “Back then, user activity dropped with prices. Now, usage is rising – the weakness is coming from outside factors”.
Lee attributed the drop to macro factors: the absence of leverage in crypto markets since last October and the sharp rally in gold, which has pulled capital away from risk assets.
He also noted a historical parallel – gold’s recent 9% single-day drop echoes patterns from 1980 that preceded corrections. If that plays out again, crypto risk appetite could return quickly.
Read also: Gold Suffers Worst Day in 40 Years, Silver Falls 27%
Prepared to Ride It Out
Bitmine’s structure gives it breathing room. With no margin calls, income from staking, and a strong cash buffer, the company isn’t under pressure to sell. “Our balance sheet is designed to weather volatility”, Lee said.
Staking continues to ramp up. Just a month ago, Bitmine had staked 659,219 ETH. Now, it’s at 2.9 million ETH, a massive increase that signals long-term confidence in Ethereum’s role as a financial backbone.
