Interpreting Bitmine's Single-Day Buy of 40,000 ETH: Market Game Amidst Whale Divergence

Key findings

Bitmine continued to accumulate Ethereum (ETH) as the price plummeted to the $2,000-$2,200 range, buying over 60,000 ETH in a single week, demonstrating a contrarian strategy of "buying more as the price falls." As of early February 2026, Bitmine held 4.285 million ETH, representing 3.52% of the total Ethereum supply, with an average cost of $3,837, and currently incurring a paper loss of approximately $6.95 billion. This contrasts sharply with Trend Research, owned by Yi Lihua, which significantly reduced its holdings by 250,000 ETH, reflecting a serious divergence of opinion among major market players regarding the future of ETH. (Odaily Odaily )

Bitmine Buying Behavior Analysis

Recent Purchase Records

According to monitoring data, Bitmine demonstrated a strong buying stance during periods of significant Ethereum price correction:

Odaily Odaily

Portfolio Structure and Risk Control

Bitmine employs a relatively conservative treasury management strategy:

• Zero-debt operation : The company has no debt or liabilities, avoiding the risk of leveraged liquidation.
• High staking rate : 67% of ETH (approximately 2.897 million tokens) has been staked, with an annualized return of approximately $374 million (an average of $1 million per day).
• Cash reserves : Holding $586 million in cash to cope with market volatility
• Long-term perspective : Tom Lee publicly stated that "the recent market pullback is very attractive," emphasizing the strengthening fundamentals of Ethereum.

Odaily Odaily

Market Comparison: Who's Selling at a Loss, and Who's Buying at the Buy the dips?

Sellers: Panic selling

In stark contrast to Bitmine's contrarian actions, other large holders engaged in selling:

Odaily Odaily

Buyers: Buy on dips

At the same time, some funds chose to buy the dips:

• Bitfinex margin long positions : Positions rise to 77,100 BTC, a near two-year high.
• Retail investors : The proportion of addresses holding less than 0.01 BTC has reached a 20-month high.
• Institutional Dollar-Cost Averaging : Strategy continued to buy 855 BTC during the downturn, worth $75.3 million.

Odaily Odaily

On-chain fundamentals diverge from price

Pledged loan ratio hits record high

Despite the price drop, Ethereum's on-chain fundamentals have actually strengthened:

• Staking Amount : 36.6 million ETH were staked, exceeding 30% of the circulating supply, setting a new all-time high.
• Staking queue : 4.08 million ETH are currently in the staking queue and will be available for 7 days.
• The queue has almost been emptied, indicating that holders are unwilling to unpledge their shares.

Odaily Odaily

Market structure changes

This divergence reflects ETH's transformation from a "speculative asset" to an "interest-bearing asset":

• Withdrawal from circulation : 30% of the supply is locked up and pledged, reducing market selling pressure.
• Yield generation : Annual collateral yields $374 million, providing cash flow support.
• Long-term holding : The pledging mechanism encourages long-term holding rather than short-term trading.

risk assessment

Risks faced by Bitmine

Systemic market risk

• Chain reaction of leveraged liquidation : Liquidation of leveraged accounts such as Trend Research could trigger a chain reaction of sell-offs.
• Macroeconomic Environment Impacts : The Fed's policy tightening and global liquidity contraction affect all risk assets.
• Competitive pressure : Other Layer 2 and public blockchain projects may divert funds and attention.

Signal Interpretation and Investment Implications

The deeper meaning of Bitmine buy signals

1. Long-term value belief : Tom Lee, an investor with a traditional financial background, believes that ETH has strong fundamental support and is currently undervalued.
2. Demonstrating financial strength : Zero debt + cash reserves + stable cash flow, capable of withstanding market fluctuations.
3. Strategic positioning : The goal is to hold 5% of the total Ethereum supply; the current progress is 3.52%, and there is still room to increase holdings.

Implications for ordinary investors

1. An era of divergence : Significant disagreements emerge among whale, and the market no longer has a unified direction.
2. Risk control : Bitmine's zero-debt model is worth learning from to avoid the risk of leveraged liquidation.
3. Long-term perspective : On-chain staking data indicates that the number of long-term holders is still increasing, and short-term price fluctuations may be excessive.

in conclusion

Bitmine's single-day purchase of 40,000 ETH indicates that professional institutional investors are taking advantage of market panic to make long-term investments . Unlike highly leveraged investors like Yi Lihua who are forced to reduce their positions, Bitmine, with its zero-debt structure and stable cash flow, is able to execute a "be greedy when others are fearful" strategy.

The current market is extremely polarized: on the one hand, leveraged accounts are being forced to liquidate, creating selling pressure; on the other hand, long-term funds are buying on dips to accumulate tokens. The continued strengthening of Ethereum's on-chain fundamentals (hit record high staking ratios) contrasts sharply with the price decline. This divergence usually means either the market is wrong or the fundamental data is lagging.

For ordinary investors, Bitmine's actions send an important signal: market downturns can present long-term investment opportunities, provided leverage and cash flow are well-managed; however, investors must be prepared to accept short-term losses . The key is to choose a strategy appropriate to one's own risk tolerance and avoid blindly imitating high-leverage operations.