Ethereum ($ETH ) prices are currently struggling to break back above the $2,000 level, some of the world's biggest financial players are using this "quiet" period to aggressively build their positions.
BitMine, an institutional treasury firm chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, has just completed another massive buying spree. According to recent filings and on-chain data from this week (February 16–20, 2026), the firm snapped up 45,759 ETH—worth approximately $91 million—bringing their total two-week accumulation to over $140 million.
The Big Picture: By the Numbers
Total Holdings: BitMine now owns 4.37 million ETH.
Supply Dominance: They currently control 3.62% of the entire global supply of Ethereum.
Revenue Strategy: They aren’t just holding; they have "staked" over 3 million of those tokens, which is currently generating roughly $176 million in annualized income for the firm.
Why is the price not moving?
It might seem confusing: if a single company is buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ETH, shouldn’t the price be skyrocketing?
Tom Lee describes the current market as a "mini-winter." Even though institutional demand is high, the market is currently absorbing a lot of selling pressure from other areas, and retail investor sentiment is sitting at "rock bottom" levels similar to the 2018 and 2022 crashes. In short, the "big fish" are quietly filling their bags while the rest of the market is too nervous to jump back in.
For beginners, this is a textbook example of Institutional Accumulation. While the daily price chart looks "boring" or stagnant, firms with long-term horizons (like BitMine and even Harvard) are treating these sub-$2,000 prices as a strategic entry point for the next few years.