Explore BitMine's 3 million ETH vault: A strategic move or hidden risk?

BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR), the largest Ethereum ( treasury management company in the world, has just announced that they are holding 3.03 million ETH, accounting for approximately 2.5% of the total supply.

In the recent price drop, BitMine took the opportunity to purchase an additional 202,037 ETH, helping them achieve half of their goal to hold 5% of the total Ethereum supply. Chairman Tom Lee emphasized that the recent price adjustment opened up a "golden opportunity" for the company.

"The liquidation of crypto assets in recent days has pulled ETH below its true value, and BitMine has acted promptly. We have now completed more than half of our journey towards the goal of '5% transformation,'" Lee shared. He also noted that this liquidation chain has created significant profit potential for long-term investors, although it is a burden for short-term traders.

Accumulating ETH in October

Currently, the company holds three times the amount of ETH compared to SharpLink Gaming – the second entity in managing the Ethereum treasury. In total, the strategic Ethereum companies currently own 5.9 million ETH, accounting for nearly 5% of the total supply, after purchasing an additional 500,000 ETH in just the past two weeks.

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-0e8c70a4dc06aaacc724b72fd83b951a.webp(Source: Strategic ETH reserveWhen including ETF funds, these entities are controlling a total of 12.7 million ETH, equivalent to over 49 billion USD at current prices. Strong demand on the Spot exchange after the recent rapid decline creates ideal conditions for a "short squeeze", putting pressure on aggressive bears.

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/social/moments-cffcf3ed71118ae2db7dc47adb97ee57(Source: Strategic ETH reserveEven according to Lee's predictions, the price of ETH may reach 10,000–12,000 USD by the end of the year – equivalent to a potential increase of 2–3 times compared to the current price.

The derivatives market opposes this prediction

However, data from the options market shows that investors are quite cautious about these targets. On Deribit, options traders are pricing in about a 2% chance that ETH will reach 10,000 USD by the end of the year, although this outlook is somewhat brighter when looking towards the first half of 2026.

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-05af7edd534b096021585d98c632e8d4.webp(Source: DeribitMeanwhile, on the prediction platform Polymarket, the bets are almost balanced, 50/50, on the possibility of ETH reaching a new ATH by the end of the year.

In the short term, the bulls need to defend the support area of 3,800 USD and conquer the resistance level of 4,200 USD to maintain the upward momentum. Conversely, if market sentiment worsens in the coming days, the possibility of ETH sliding below 3,500 USD is entirely possible.

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-ee42b1e0a487aa6cc961f9e72a89a029.webp(Source: TradingViewSN_Nour