BitMine said it is within roughly 35,000 ETH of reaching a self-imposed ceiling of 5% of Ethereum's total supply, bringing a six-month treasury accumulation campaign that absorbed more than 4 million ETH close to its planned end.
In its Nov. 10 update, the company said it added 9,587 ETH during the previous week, taking its holdings to 6,070,092 ETH. BitMine valued the position at about $13.6 billion and said it represented 4.97% of Ethereum's current supply, or 99% of the 5% target established when it launched its Ethereum treasury strategy on June 30, 2025.
Chairman Tom Lee has described the 5% threshold as a hard cap. If BitMine follows that policy, its large-scale open-market purchases would slow sharply and then end once it acquires the remaining ETH needed to close the gap.
A treasury strategy approaches its limit
BitMine's target was designed around a familiar U.S. securities-market benchmark: the 5% ownership level that triggers Schedule 13D disclosure requirements for significant positions in publicly traded companies. Ethereum does not operate under the same ownership framework as a corporation, but the threshold gave the firm a clear numerical limit for its treasury strategy.
The company's disclosures imply that the final purchases would be modest compared with its earlier buying program. BitMine accumulated more than 4.10 million ETH in roughly six months during the second half of 2025, when its reported weekly additions ranged from about 100,000 to 200,000 ETH.
That pace has eased considerably in the past two months. Treasury-tracking figures cited alongside BitMine's disclosures put weekly net additions at roughly 8,000 to 15,000 ETH, or about $20 million to $30 million at the values used in those reports. The latest 9,587 ETH purchase falls within that slower range.
The deceleration is consistent with a buyer approaching a fixed allocation rather than preparing to expand its program indefinitely. BitMine's stated holdings already place it well above other corporate Ethereum treasuries tracked in the market, including SharpLink at about 870,000 ETH and The Ether Machine at about 496,000 ETH.
Most of the ETH is designated for staking
More than 80% of BitMine's ETH has been committed to staking nodes, according to the company. Staking involves locking ETH to help secure Ethereum's proof-of-stake network in return for protocol rewards, subject to the operational and withdrawal rules governing validators.
That allocation means the company's Ethereum strategy is geared toward holding and generating staking income rather than treating the position as short-term inventory. BitMine has indicated that its 6.07 million ETH position is expected to remain in treasury and staking after it completes the final purchases.
A large staked balance can reduce the amount of ETH immediately available for trading, although it does not remove coins from Ethereum's supply. Staked ETH can be withdrawn under Ethereum's validator rules, and liquid-staking arrangements can also create tradable tokens backed by staked positions. The practical effect on market liquidity therefore depends on how BitMine structures and manages its holdings, not only on the headline size of its wallet.
The supplied figures place Ethereum's circulating supply at roughly 122 million ETH. BitMine's 6.07 million ETH would account for nearly one out of every 20 ETH under that estimate, a concentration level that makes its treasury decisions relevant to traders monitoring large on-chain holders.
The end of purchases may change market mechanics
BitMine's buying has been a visible source of recurring demand, but the company's approach to its 5% ceiling makes it difficult to treat those purchases as a permanent market force. Once the cap is reached, the regular flow of treasury purchases would no longer add to spot-market demand at the same rate.
That does not automatically establish a direction for ETH prices. Ethereum trading volume now reaches tens of billions of dollars per day, according to the market data cited with the company's update. In addition, spot Ether exchange-traded funds already represent a major channel for institutional and retail market flows. Single-day ETF inflows or outflows have exceeded $100 million, meaning fund activity can outweigh BitMine's recent weekly purchase rate in a short period.
The report cited late-October daily net outflows from public spot funds of more than $110 million. Such swings illustrate why a corporate buyer nearing a cap should be viewed as one liquidity factor among several, rather than a sole explanation for Ethereum's market movements.
Market participants will likely focus on whether BitMine discloses its final purchases quickly or spreads them over a longer period. A rapid completion would bring the strategy to its stated endpoint sooner. A slower approach could keep a smaller but steady buyer active for additional weeks.
Staking rewards create a holding incentive
The company's decision to stake most of its ETH also gives it a financial reason to retain the position after purchases stop. The supplied market figures put Ethereum staking yields between 3.5% and 4.2% annually, though actual returns vary with validator performance, network conditions, fees and staking arrangements.
For BitMine, the result is a treasury model in which capital appreciation is only one part of the strategy. Staking rewards may help offset the carrying cost of maintaining a multibillion-dollar ETH position, while also limiting the company's incentive to sell into the secondary market immediately after reaching its target.
The approaching end of BitMine's accumulation removes one of Ethereum's largest disclosed corporate buying programs from its expansion phase. Its next disclosures will show whether the firm treats 5% as a strict endpoint, as Lee has indicated, or whether it changes the policy that has governed its Ethereum treasury since June 2025.
Curious how ETH works under the hood? Deepen your insight with our guide What is Ethereum and How Does it Work.
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