Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the NYSE-listed mining firm led by Tom Lee, just picked up another 20,000 ETH in a single over-the-counter transaction with FalconX. The purchase clocked in at roughly $35.85 million, according to blockchain data tracked by Arkham Intelligence.

The ETH hoarding playbook

This latest FalconX deal is part of a much larger pattern. Bitmine has been executing repeated 20,000 ETH batch purchases throughout 2026, using OTC desks to avoid slamming the open market with massive buy orders.

The company’s Ethereum treasury has swelled to over 5.5 million ETH. That figure represents more than 5% of Ethereum’s total supply. Roughly 85% of those holdings are staked through what Bitmine calls its Made-in-America Validator Network, or MAVAN. The staking operation alone projects annual revenue of approximately $230 million.

The buying hasn’t been limited to FalconX either. Bitmine has routed purchases through Kraken and Galaxy Digital as well, diversifying its counterparty exposure across major institutional platforms.

How Bitmine got here

On June 30, 2025, Bitmine executed a $250 million private placement specifically earmarked for building an Ethereum treasury. That capital raise marked a strategic turning point for a company that had previously focused on Bitcoin mining operations.

Tom Lee has framed the Ethereum accumulation as opportunistic buying during what he considers temporary market weakness, describing current ETH prices as an “attractive entry point” for investors.

The scale of buying has been staggering. In a single week in early June 2026, Bitmine acquired 126,971 ETH worth approximately $214 million. A separate purchase on June 9 alone moved 75,000 ETH, or roughly $123 million, into the company’s wallets. An April batch of 20,000 ETH cost about $44.8 million.

Bitmine internally refers to its accumulation target as the “Alchemy of 5%,” a goal to hold enough ETH to meaningfully influence network dynamics and maximize staking returns. They’ve already crossed that threshold.

What this means for investors

With 85% of 5.5 million ETH locked in validators, that’s a significant chunk of circulating supply pulled off the market. A single corporate entity holding this much of any Layer 1 asset also creates governance and decentralization concerns. Ethereum’s validator set is designed to be distributed, and when one company runs enough validators to represent a material percentage of staked ETH, it introduces questions about network resilience.

Bitmine’s playbook echoes MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin treasury strategy, but applied to Ethereum with the added revenue angle from staking. If Bitmine’s projected $230 million in annual staking revenue materializes, expect other public companies to explore similar models.