BitMine Buys 20,000 ETH as Tom Lee Cites AI Downstream Story
Ethereum (ETH)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
newsable.asianetnews.com reports that Tom Lee-led BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc purchased 20,000 Ethereum from Kraken for approximately $48.89 million. This acquisition brings the company's disclosed holdings to 5.87 million ETH, representing 4.8% of the 120.7 million circulating supply. BitMine remains 187,000 ETH short of its 5% target, though staking rewards generate roughly $330 million in annual revenue to help close the gap.
Lee described the current market phase as an 'AI downstream' story, arguing that Ethereum's price rally was overdue. He cited Wall Street tokenization, agentic AI, easing financial conditions, and White House support as key tailwinds. Despite these fundamentals, BitMine's stock (BMNR) edged 0.7% lower in pre-market trading amid broader market weakness.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for BMNR remains in the 'extremely bullish' zone with 'extremely high' chatter levels. The stock has nearly doubled from its June 30 intraday low of $12.80. Ethereum's price fell 0.5% over the past 24 hours, with retail sentiment shifting from 'extremely bullish' to 'bullish'. Analyst Ash Crypto noted that Bitcoin dominance staying above 60% favors large-cap coins, requiring a drop below 58% for a true altcoin season.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ETH, measured when this story was written up on 26 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio data shows Ethereum trading at $2,506.78 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 51.2%, indicating a slight majority of buyers. However, the 1-hour buy ratio rose to 55.0% while the 4-hour ratio dropped to 40.4%, suggesting short-term buying pressure is building even as it fades over a slightly longer timeframe. The 1-hour volume delta is positive at $7,944,358, contrasting with a negative 4-hour delta of -$11,321,838. This divergence implies that recent trades are favoring buyers, reversing the selling pressure seen earlier in the four-hour window. Net buying has occurred in 12 of the last 24 hours, contributing to a 24-hour cumulative volume delta of +$18,069,472. Total spot volume for the day reached $617,837,179 across 2,687,659 trades.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.8% sits at the 16th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.5% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What ETH did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ETH, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 51.4%, making today's 24-hour reading of 51.2% virtually identical to the weekly trend. Trading volume today was 0.48x the weekly average, indicating a notably quieter day for spot activity. The coin experienced a price increase of 11.3% over the eight-day period, supported by a total volume delta of +$343,346,378. Net buying occurred on 6 of the 7 days in the preceding week, showing consistent accumulation. This recent activity contrasts with Ethereum's broader 17% decline year-to-date, though the weekly trend remains positive.