Bitmine Holds 4.97% of Ether Supply, 35,000 ETH Short of Ceiling

Bitmine Immersion Technologies disclosed 6,070,092 Ether (ETH) on Nov. 10, a position valued at roughly $13.6 billion and equal to 4.97% of the token's supply. The treasury company now sits about 35,000 ETH short of its self-imposed 5% ceiling, the level at which management has said purchases will stop.

The company added 9,587 ETH in the week before the Nov. 10 update, according to its own disclosure. That figure represents 99% of the stated goal. In plain terms, Bitmine controls nearly one of every twenty Ether in existence — a concentration that invites scrutiny even as it approaches its declared endpoint.

What did the chairman commit to?

Chairman Tom Lee said in October that 5% would be a firm limit and that Bitmine would not accumulate above it. The company had previously set the same 5% level as a buying ceiling. The commitment is a policy statement rather than a regulatory constraint; no external body enforces it.

What remains unstated is what happens after buying stops. The disclosure offers no detail on whether Bitmine will sell, stake further, or simply hold. More than 80% of the firm's Ether holdings already sit in staking nodes, which locks much of the position into network operations and reduces near-term liquidity.

How fast is the buying slowing?

The pace has eased markedly from its peak. Bitmine added more than 4.1 million ETH in the second half of 2025 after launching the treasury strategy on June 30, 2025, with weekly additions at times reaching 100,000 to 200,000 ETH. Over the past two months, weekly net additions have run at roughly 8,000 to 15,000 ETH — about $20 million to $30 million at recent prices.

The latest 9,587 ETH addition falls squarely within that slower band. At the current rate, reaching the ceiling would take roughly two to four more weeks of buying, assuming no acceleration.

Can other buyers fill the gap?

The broader demand picture complicates any handoff. Daily Ether trading volume can reach tens of billions of dollars, and spot Ether exchange-traded fund flows can exceed $100 million in a single day. Yet ETF flows tend to follow market direction, which makes them an inconsistent source of structural demand.

Other Ether treasury firms remain far smaller:

• SharpLink holds about 870,000 ETH
• The Ether Machine holds about 496,000 ETH

Both are less than one-seventh of Bitmine's position. Their market capitalization and discounts to net asset value limit their capacity to replicate Bitmine's earlier accumulation pace, meaning no single buyer currently stands ready to absorb similar volume.

The takeaway: Bitmine's approach to its ceiling removes the market's largest structured Ether buyer, and the transition to post-purchase operations — staking returns rather than accumulation — will define the firm's next phase.

Under Lee's stated policy, hitting the 5% threshold halts new purchases entirely, a milestone that, at recent buying rates, could arrive before the end of the month.