BitMine Buys 71,672 More Ether; Tom Lee Says Below $2,200 Is a Buying Opportunity

BitMine, a company that uses Ether as a treasury asset, bought another large batch of the token during the recent price decline.

Cointelegraph reported on May 19 that BitMine Chairman Tom Lee said the company bought an additional 71,672 ETH over the past week. He said Ether prices below $2,200 were an attractive buying opportunity.

BitMine's total Ether holdings now stand at about 5.2 million ETH. The company is targeting 5% of Ether's circulating supply, currently about 120.7 million tokens.

BitMine has bought more than 100,000 ETH a week in recent weeks. Between May 4 and May 11, it also added 26,659 ETH. The market has viewed the company as pursuing an Ether accumulation strategy similar to Strategy's Bitcoin treasury approach.

A recent jump in oil prices driven by geopolitical risks in the Middle East has been cited as a factor weighing on Ether. Lee said rising crude prices continued to pressure the token, but added that Ether could recover if oil prices reverse.

On-chain data also showed renewed buying by a long-term whale investor. Lookonchain said a whale that had held ETH for more than 10 years before selling its entire position last year recently bought back 1,951 ETH at an average price of $2,182.

Ether remains about 57% below its all-time high of $4,946 reached in August 2025. Still, the market has continued to discuss the possibility of a rebound later this year, supported by expectations for growth in stablecoins and tokenization.