Bitmine Ether cap is now official. Tom Lee said the company will not accumulate Ether past 5% of supply. Therefore, its target becomes a ceiling.
Lee is Chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies. He spoke at Token2049 in Singapore on Wednesday. He said Bitmine holds roughly 6 million Ether. That equals about 4.9% of the supply. The company needs about 100,000 ETH more to reach its target.
“That’s a hard cap. We’re not gonna be accumulating past 5%,” Lee said. “We’re not gonna own more than 5% of Ethereum.”
Previously, Lee left open the possibility of accumulating more than 5%. That depended on Ethereum adoption. In an August interview with Bankless, he said the company may revisit that possibility in 2027.
Bitmine says it is “done stacking” Ether
Lee said Bitmine accumulated most of its Ether during a crypto bear market. Consequently, the company built its position while prices were depressed.
“We did all this buying in a bear market,” Lee said. “We protected the downside for ETH because we were buying. But now, we’re done stacking in front of a 25X move.”
5% hard cap tied to capital strategy
Lee also linked the 5% hard cap to Bitmine’s capital strategy. Stopping accumulation removes the need to raise additional funds for Ether purchases.
“So if we have a 5% hard cap, that means we’re gonna outperform ETH on the way up, right?” Lee said. “‘Cause you don’t have to worry about us trying to raise capital. We’re done.”
Bitmine has tapped capital markets to build its Ether treasury. In June, the company launched a $300 million perpetual preferred stock offering. By early August, Bitmine had repurchased 16.1 million common shares. That was under its $4 billion buyback program.
Staking could still add to holdings
Even after Ether purchases stop, staking could add to Bitmine’s holdings. However, Lee previously said the company could sell ETH earned through staking. That would prevent its share of supply from rising above 5%.
