BitMine Immersion Technologies buys an additional 101,901 ether (ETH) last week, increasing its total holdings to 5,078,386 ETH.

CoinDesk reported on April 27 that the total is equivalent to about 4.21 percent of ether in circulation. The purchase is worth about $236 million at current prices. BitMine has exceeded 5 million ether in holdings in about 10 months after switching in June last year from a bitcoin mining company to a digital-asset treasury strategy company.

BitMine chairman Tom Lee (톰 리) said, "BitMine's ether holdings exceeded 5 million last week." He called it "an important milestone" as the company moves toward securing 5 percent of ether supply.

The company is increasing the size of its weekly purchases and expanding its ether weighting while other digital-asset treasury companies recently watch from the sidelines. BitMine's total holdings of cryptocurrencies and cash are about $13.3 billion. In addition to ether, it holds 200 bitcoin, $940 million in cash, and stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings related to Worldcoin.

BitMine has also expanded its staking business using its ether holdings. It is staking about 3.7 million ETH, about 73 percent of its total holdings, and said it is generating an annualised profit of about $264 million from that. The company launched the 'Made in America Validator Network' (MAVAN) staking platform in March to attract institutional clients, and is also using it for its own treasury operations.

Market reaction is limited. BitMine shares are unchanged in premarket trade after the purchase.

Tom Lee stressed that ethereum's role is changing beyond a speculative asset. Citing recent research by Etherealize, he said ethereum is increasingly being treated as a store of value and collateral asset as the use of digital assets in financial transactions grows. He also claimed ethereum has outperformed the S&P 500 since the Iran conflict began.

For long-term demand, he pointed to tokenisation and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that rely on public blockchains. Tom Lee said, "It is meaningful that ethereum is the strongest store of value in a wartime phase, and that ethereum became a leading asset after the war began."

BitMine's move is expanding into a treasury strategy that combines staking income and services for institutions beyond simple holding. As a result, market attention is focused on whether the company will actually approach its target of securing 5 percent of ethereum supply, and whether the store-of-value narrative around ethereum will translate into institutional demand.