{"id":43959,"date":"2026-05-17T20:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:00:48","slug":"bitmine-buys-another-197-million-in-ethereum-as-tom-lees-5-eth-strategy-presses-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959","title":{"rendered":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On"},"content":{"rendered":"

On-chain data is pointing to another interesting accumulation move by Tom Lee\u2019s<\/a> BitMine Immersion Technologies, with a whale tracker flagging a $197.64 million Ethereum purchase routed through four newly created wallets.<\/p>\n

The latest Ethereum buy has come during a period of weakness, <\/a>which has seen the Ethereum price losing $2,300, and $2,100 is now in focus.<\/p>\n

BitMine Adds 89,026 ETH As Treasury Accumulation Continues<\/b><\/h2>\n

On-chain analytics firm Lookonchain flagged a series of transactions suggesting that BitMine, the cryptocurrency mining and treasury firm chaired by prominent investor Tom Lee, may have quietly acquired an additional 89,026 ETH valued at approximately $197.64 million at current market prices. According to Lookonchain<\/a>, the funds were routed through four newly created wallet addresses, which received the ETH from major exchanges Kraken and FalconX.<\/p>\n

Lookonchain noted that the wallets were created shortly before the transfers. The image shared with the transaction data shows a 25,000 ETH transfer from Kraken worth about $55.67 million, three separate 15,000 ETH transfers from FalconX worth about $33.3 million each, and another Kraken transfer of about 19,026 ETH worth $42.28 million.<\/p>\n

BitMine had slowed its ether purchases in the week ending May 11, buying 26,659 ETH worth approximately $63 million, about a quarter of its recent average weekly pace. Chairman Tom Lee said the firm was moderating its buying<\/a> as it approached its long-term goal of owning 5% of Ethereum\u2019s total supply.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The company has spent the past year building one of the most interesting Ethereum treasury strategies. In its May 11 update, BitMine said it held<\/a> 5,206,790 ETH, alongside 201 BTC, $775 million in cash, and other holdings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BitMine also revealed that about 4.71 million ETH of its holdings were staked,<\/a> worth about $11.1 billion. Interestingly, the staking has so far been profitable, with the company also noting its annualized staking revenues have reached $319 million and a 7-day annualized yield of 2.86% from its own staking operations.<\/p>\n

An Ethereum OG Buys The Dip<\/b><\/h2>\n

BitMine is not the only significant player quietly accumulating. On-chain data tracked by Lookonchain reveals that a l<\/a>ong-tenured Ethereum early adopter, known as an OG in the community, has returned to the market amid the recent price weakness.<\/p>\n

According to Lookonchain, this wallet received 11,005 ETH from ShapeShift a decade ago at an entry price of just $3.46 per token. Over a year ago, those holdings were sold for 30.56 million USDC at $2,777, realizing a profit of $30.5 million and an 803x return on the original position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

As the market drops, an #EthereumOG<\/a> who made $30.5M(803x return) is buying the dip on $ETH<\/a>!<\/p>\n

10 years ago, this OG received 11,005 $ETH<\/a> from ShapeShift at just $3.46 each.<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, he sold them for 30.56M $USDC<\/a> at $2,777, making $30.5M in profit \u2013 an 803x return.<\/p>\n

Today,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/4N2o9qNpvd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, with ETH prices declining, the same wallet has re-entered the market, deploying 4.26 million USDC to purchase 1,951 ETH at approximately $2,182 per token. Interestingly, Lookonchain noted that the wallet may continue buying.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,180.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On-chain data is pointing to another interesting accumulation move by Tom Lee\u2019s BitMine Immersion Technologies, with a whale tracker flagging a $197.64 million Ethereum purchase routed through four newly created wallets. The latest Ethereum buy has come during a period of weakness, which has seen the Ethereum price losing $2,300, and $2,100 is now in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ethereum"},"yoast_head":"\nBitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On-chain data is pointing to another interesting accumulation move by Tom Lee\u2019s BitMine Immersion Technologies, with a whale tracker flagging a $197.64 million Ethereum purchase routed through four newly created wallets. The latest Ethereum buy has come during a period of weakness, which has seen the Ethereum price losing $2,300, and $2,100 is now in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cryptomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/generic-crypto-image.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Crypto Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cryptomagz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cryptomagz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Crypto Magazine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Crypto Magazine\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040\"},\"headline\":\"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ethereum\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959\",\"name\":\"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=43959#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cryptomag\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040\",\"name\":\"Crypto Magazine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Crypto Magazine\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/cryptomagz\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag","og_description":"On-chain data is pointing to another interesting accumulation move by Tom Lee\u2019s BitMine Immersion Technologies, with a whale tracker flagging a $197.64 million Ethereum purchase routed through four newly created wallets. The latest Ethereum buy has come during a period of weakness, which has seen the Ethereum price losing $2,300, and $2,100 is now in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959","og_site_name":"Cryptomag","article_published_time":"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":560,"url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/generic-crypto-image.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Crypto Magazine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cryptomagz","twitter_site":"@cryptomagz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Crypto Magazine","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959"},"author":{"name":"Crypto Magazine","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/#\/schema\/person\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040"},"headline":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On","datePublished":"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959"},"wordCount":502,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg","articleSection":["Ethereum"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959","url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959","name":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On - Cryptomag","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-17T20:00:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/#\/schema\/person\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/wp-content\/uploads\/a_eb15ac-uBTlsA.jpg","width":750,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=43959#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BitMine Buys Another $197 Million In Ethereum As Tom Lee\u2019s 5% ETH Strategy Presses On"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/","name":"Cryptomag","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/#\/schema\/person\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040","name":"Crypto Magazine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c24e7a3322cdb9140c7dde381c870ae2c527e0dc5af67ed7a7db042bb2e1d14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Crypto Magazine"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cryptomag.finance","https:\/\/x.com\/cryptomagz"],"url":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}