Bitmine Immersion Technologies has completed its fifth consecutive week of Ether purchases, acquiring 71,179 ETH for approximately $147 million. The company announced the transaction on Monday, describing it as its largest weekly buy of 2026 to date. The figure marks a notable increase from Bitmine’s previous weekly average, which ranged between $93 million and $103 million. Across its four prior purchases in March, the company had accumulated a total of 238,244 Ether.
Company leadership cited a belief that the crypto market is approaching the end of a downturn as the primary motivation for sustaining the buying pace. Chief executive Lee stated that Ether is in the final stages of what he described as a “mini-crypto winter,” a view he also expressed publicly the previous week. He indicated that this assessment forms the basis for the company’s continued aggressive accumulation strategy. The firm has increased its rate of purchases in each of the past four weeks, according to the Monday statement.
Lee also pointed to conditions in oil markets as a key factor influencing the broader crypto outlook. He noted that the inverse correlation between crypto and equity markets on one side, and oil prices on the other, is at its highest level in the past year. In his view, rising oil prices represent a headwind for both equities and crypto, and the current downturn in digital assets is likely to end when upside risk to oil prices peaks. He described this relationship as logical given current market dynamics.
Crypto markets have experienced sustained volatility since a crash in October, with institutional interest showing signs of cooling. Inflows into crypto exchange-traded products have diminished amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Despite these pressures, Lee suggested that a resolution in oil market risks could signal a turning point for digital asset prices more broadly.
Bitmine currently leads all large Ether treasury holders tracked by StrategicEthReserve, which monitors 67 such companies. SharpLink Gaming ranks second with 863,000 Ether, while Ether Machine holds third place with 496,000 tokens. Notably, Bitmine is the only one among the top three to have publicly disclosed purchases in 2026. SharpLink Gaming last bought 3,600 Ether in December, and Ether Machine has not made a purchase since acquiring 1,400 Ether in October.
A comparable pattern of concentration is emerging in Bitcoin treasury activity. Analysts at CryptoQuant reported on Wednesday that Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, has been the near-sole driver of Bitcoin treasury demand over the past 30 days. Strategy purchased 45,000 BTC during that period, while all other non-Strategy firms combined bought approximately 1,000 BTC, a figure down 99% from peak levels. Strategy’s reported Bitcoin holdings stood at 762,099 BTC as of Sunday, valued at more than $51 billion. The company did, however, pause its regular purchases between March 23 and March 29, with Saylor reporting no acquisitions to the US Securities and Exchange Commission during that window.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
