BitMine Immersion Technologies bought 71,179 ether (ETH) in the past week, posting its biggest weekly purchase so far in 2026. The purchase is worth about $147 million.

Cointelegraph reported on March 31 local time that the purchase extended BitMine's ether accumulation to 5 consecutive weeks. BitMine bought a total of 238,244 ETH over the previous 4 weeks and added more over the past week. In a statement, BitMine said this week's purchase amount of about $147 million was higher than its previous weekly average of $93 million to $103 million.

The company cited its view of the market phase as the reason for its aggressive buying in recent weeks. Tom Lee (톰 리), BitMine's chairman, said its base case is that ether is in the final stage of a "mini crypto winter." He added that BitMine has increased its weekly pace of ether purchases over the past 4 weeks.

The crypto market has remained volatile since a large-scale liquidation event in October 2025. With Middle East tensions continuing, inflows into crypto exchange-traded products, or ETPs, have slowed, and the mood also suggests continued signs that institutional investor momentum is weakening.

Lee said a key condition for a market turnaround is easing oil-price risk. He said the inverse correlation between crypto and stocks on one side and oil prices on the other is growing and is at its highest level in the past year. He added that until the stock market gains confidence in the future path of oil prices, rising oil prices are a headwind for stocks and crypto. He said a crypto winter is likely to end when the upside risk in oil prices peaks.

BitMine's scale of holdings has also drawn attention among companies that hold ethereum treasuries. StrategicEthReserve tracks 67 large ethereum treasury holders, and BitMine leads the list by a wide margin. In the same tally, SharpLink Gaming was cited as second with 863,000 ETH and Ether Machine as third with 496,000. Of the top 3 companies, BitMine is the only one that has disclosed purchases this year.

BitMine's large-scale buying is interpreted as a pre-emptive bet targeting the late stage of a bear market. Still, it appears that judging a trend reversal in the ethereum market will require confirmation not only of corporate accumulation but also of stabilising macro conditions and a recovery in institutional fund flows.

1/ BitMine provided its latest holdings update for March 30, 2026: $10.7 billion in total crypto + "moonshots": - 4,732,082 ETH at $2,005 per ETH (@coinbase) - 197 Bitcoin (BTC) - $200 million stake in Beast Industries @MrBeast - $102 million…