Key Takeaways
- Bitmine reached 99% of its ether accumulation goal, purchasing another 8,573 ETH to bring its holdings to 6.06 million tokens, worth approximately $13.7 billion.
- Chairman Tom Lee downplayed the market impact of the Binance hack, arguing that ether’s relatively modest 4% decline following the reported $6.3 billion theft demonstrates growing crypto market resilience.
- Bitmine continues generating staking revenue, with 5.23 million ETH staked and producing an estimated $358 million annually.
Bitmine Nears 5% ETH Goal
The publicly traded company announced Monday that it purchased another 8,573 ether over the past week, bringing its total holdings to 6,060,506 ETH. That represents approximately 4.9% of Ethereum’s circulating coin supply, putting Bitmine 99% of the way toward its self-imposed accumulation target.
At ether’s recent price of $2,286, Bitmine’s ETH holdings were worth approximately $13.85 billion. Its combined cryptocurrency holdings, cash, marketable securities and other investments totaled $14.5 billion as of Sunday, Nov. 1, including $498 million in cash and marketable securities, 216 bitcoin (about $16.8 million worth), and investments in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.
Bitmine has now purchased ETH every week since launching its treasury strategy in June 2025, and it is the world’s largest corporate ether holder. Lee has previously said that the company intends to stop accumulating once it reaches the 5% threshold, which would require approximately 6.11 million ETH at the current reported supply.
Tom Lee’s Take on Binance Hack Impact
The latest purchase comes as Lee attempts to put a positive spin on the aftermath of last week’s enormous Binance security breach, which resulted in the theft of approximately $6.3 billion in customer assets across various cryptocurrencies—the largest crypto heist of all time.
Lee acknowledged the severity of the attack, but suggested that the relatively limited crypto price declines following the incident were encouraging.
“While this is a terrible development, in my view, the relatively muted crypto market reaction is very constructive, particularly compared to the market’s response to prior sizable crypto thefts,” Lee said in a statement.
He contrasted ether’s roughly 4% decline following the Binance incident with the cryptocurrency’s performance after the February 2025 Bybit hack, when attackers stole approximately $1.5 billion—mostly in ETH and related tokens. Lee said that ETH fell 8% immediately following that earlier attack, and lost 20% over the subsequent week.
Lee offered six explanations for the more restrained market response, including Binance’s ability to absorb customer losses, swift action by industry participants to limit the damage by freezing stolen stablecoins and centralized exchange assets, and the absence of cascading failures across decentralized finance protocols.
He also pointed to the attack’s reported origins in compromised corporate infrastructure rather than an underlying blockchain vulnerability, along with the FBI’s rapid attribution of the incident to North Korean attackers.
Lee argued that the response demonstrated an industry increasingly capable of withstanding major security incidents, interpreting the limited price decline as another indication that a cryptocurrency bull market remains underway.
However, the breach has still rattled Binance customers. Bitcoin.com News reported that the value of assets tracked on the exchange declined from approximately $144.9 billion on Oct. 29 to $128.3 billion by Nov. 2, a reduction of about $16.6 billion. That decrease includes cryptocurrency price movements and stolen funds, rather than customer withdrawals alone.
Binance has gradually restored withdrawals following the incident and is expected to release an updated proof-of-reserves report on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bitmine continues to generate income from its enormous ETH holdings. The company reported that 5,227,037 ETH, or approximately 86% of its treasury, is currently staked, generating an estimated $358 million in annualized revenue at prevailing yields. Staking its entire ETH portfolio could potentially increase that figure to $415 million annually, according to the company.
As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Bitmine has also been repurchasing its own shares while continuing to expand its Ethereum position. The company disclosed last week that it had spent approximately $399.6 million buying back 22.9 million shares during 2026, reflecting management’s belief that its stock remains undervalued relative to its underlying assets.
Bitmine remains the second-largest publicly traded corporate cryptocurrency treasury, trailing only bitcoin-focused Strategy with $66 billion in BTC, as it approaches the finish line of its ether accumulation campaign.
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