Bit Digital’s $20 Million Ether Purchase Suffers $3 Million Paper Loss in Market Pullback

Bitmine, the world's largest corporate holder of ether, continues to use company funds to build its ETH reserve, with the market watching how its large purchases affect supply and prices. As its holdings approach 5% of Ethereum's total circulating supply, the company has become an important gauge of institutional crypto adoption.

Bitmine recently spent about $43 million to acquire another 27,084 ETH, further increasing its total holdings. Chairman Tom Lee said the recent weakness in cryptocurrencies was primarily driven by quarter-end "window dressing" in late June, as investors exited impaired positions before the second half began, creating short-term selling pressure.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies launched its Ether treasury strategy in July 2025, raising funds through capital markets and steadily accumulating ETH to become the world’s largest publicly traded corporate holder. The model closely ties shareholder returns to Ether’s price and the company’s acquisition cost, making Bitmine an important test of whether corporate crypto treasuries can weather market cycles.

10x Research said on February 23, 2026, that ETH had fallen about 60% over six months and was trading below Bitmine’s average cost of $3,843 per token, leaving the company with a paper loss approaching $8.8 billion. Bitmine nevertheless bought another 45,749 ETH the previous week at an average price of $1,992. The research firm said current prices were testing whether the decline was a cyclical pullback or a deeper structural downturn.