The announcement was delivered by Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee during a high-profile keynote address at the Token2049 conference in Singapore. Speaking to an audience of industry leaders, developers, and investors, Lee revealed that the company is currently on the very cusp of hitting its predetermined threshold. According to Lee, Bitmine has already amassed approximately 6 million Ether, which translates to roughly 4.9% of the entire asset’s supply. To cross the finish line and reach its targeted ceiling, the company requires only about 100,000 additional ETH.
"That’s a hard cap. We’re not gonna be accumulating past 5%," Lee told the audience during his address, emphasizing the definitive nature of the corporate policy. "We’re not gonna own more than 5% of Ethereum."
The announcement marks a significant pivot for the enterprise, which had previously left the door open regarding its long-term accumulation limits. Earlier in the year, Lee had hinted that the company might revisit its position on accumulation depending on the broader adoption metrics of the Ethereum network. In an interview with Bankless conducted in August, Lee noted that the firm could potentially re-evaluate its supply ceiling heading into 2027. However, the latest statements from Singapore indicate that leadership has opted for a much firmer and sooner boundary, officially signaling the conclusion of their aggressive buying phase.
Bitmine says it is “done stacking” Ether
Reflecting on the macroeconomic and market conditions that enabled the company to build its colossal treasury, Lee pointed out that the vast majority of Bitmine’s acquisitions were executed during a prolonged crypto bear market. By leaning into the downturn when market sentiment was low and asset prices were heavily depressed, the firm was able to systematically scale its digital asset reserves.
"We did all this buying in a bear market," Lee explained. "We protected the downside for ETH because we were buying. But now, we’re done stacking in front of a 25X move."
Beyond defending downside price action during difficult market cycles, Lee explicitly linked the newly established 5% hard cap to Bitmine’s broader corporate and capital strategy. By slamming the brakes on ongoing Ether purchases, the firm effectively eliminates the operational and financial pressure to continuously raise fresh capital for the sole purpose of funding new crypto acquisitions. This shift, according to leadership, is designed to instill greater confidence among equity holders by removing dilution risks associated with constant fundraising rounds.
"So if we have a 5% hard cap, that means we’re gonna outperform ETH on the way up, right?" Lee posed to the audience, framing the strategic constraint as a positive development for stakeholders. "’Cause you don’t have to worry about us trying to raise capital. We’re done."
Bitmine’s journey to assembling its multibillion-dollar crypto treasury has involved sophisticated navigation of traditional capital markets. In June, the enterprise made waves by launching a $300 million perpetual preferred stock offering, a maneuver that mirrored strategies popularized by other prominent corporate treasury pioneers. Furthermore, as part of its ongoing capital management initiatives, the company disclosed that it had successfully repurchased 16.1 million common shares under a sweeping $4 billion buyback program by early August.
Even though Bitmine’s active open-market purchasing of Ether is drawing to a close, the company’s asset base may still experience organic growth through staking yields. The firm has previously projected substantial financial returns from putting its treasury to work on the network, including estimates of $334 million in annual staking revenue generated from its $15.8 billion crypto treasury. To ensure that these staking rewards do not inadvertently push the company’s ownership share past the mandated 5% limit, Lee has previously indicated that Bitmine is prepared to sell off portions of the ETH earned through network validation, thereby maintaining strict compliance with its newly established hard cap.
