Bitmine buys ETH as Ether approaches $2K amid Robinhood L2 boost

Bitmine Immersion Technologies quietly crossed a threshold that most crypto watchers didn’t see coming. The firm, led by Tom Lee, now holds 5.74 million ETH, roughly 4.8% of the entire circulating supply, after scooping up an additional 42,197 ETH for approximately $74 million in the week ending around July 5.

That makes Bitmine the largest corporate holder of Ethereum by a wide margin. And the buying isn’t stopping. The company has publicly stated it’s targeting 5% ownership of Ethereum’s total supply by year-end, meaning it’s about 95% of the way there.

The $10 billion ETH treasury play

At current prices hovering between $1,750 and $1,800, Bitmine’s total ETH stash is worth roughly $10 billion.

This isn’t a passive hold strategy. Bitmine has staked over 4.87 million of its ETH, generating yield while simultaneously reducing the liquid supply available on exchanges. The company has been accumulating aggressively for around 12 months, with weekly purchases ranging from tens of thousands to over 100,000 ETH depending on market conditions. Bitmine kept buying even when ETH hit its June low of approximately $1,565.

Corporate treasury strategies in crypto used to mean one thing: buy Bitcoin. But while Bitmine has been piling into ETH, Strategy has actually been liquidating its Bitcoin holdings.

Robinhood Chain enters the picture

Robinhood launched its Ethereum Layer 2 solution, called Robinhood Chain, on July 1. Built on Arbitrum, the chain is designed to facilitate transactions for tokenized real-world assets and stocks.

Gas fees on Robinhood Chain are paid in ETH, meaning every transaction on the platform creates incremental demand for the underlying asset. Before launch, the testnet had already processed millions of transactions.

What this means for investors

On the demand side, a corporation with a stated goal of owning 5% of all ETH is buying consistently regardless of price. On the utility side, a major fintech platform launched infrastructure that requires ETH for every transaction.

Tom Lee has pointed to favorable conditions around US crypto legislation, specifically the Clarity Act, as a tailwind for institutional participation.

For traders watching key levels, the $1,565 June low represents a near-term floor that held during peak pessimism. The $1,750 to $1,800 range where ETH currently sits is the current decision zone.

Risks remain real. A single entity controlling nearly 5% of a network’s supply raises centralization concerns. If Bitmine ever needed to liquidate even a fraction of its holdings, the sell pressure could be severe. And Robinhood Chain’s long-term traction depends on regulatory treatment of tokenized securities.