Ethereum treasury firm BitMine is closing in on its self-imposed accumulation limit, with Chairman Tom Lee confirming plans to halt ETH purchases once holdings reach 5% of circulating supply and to lean on staking revenue thereafter.

Recent purchases have lifted the company's holdings to approximately 4.9% of Ethereum's estimated 122.1 million circulating tokens, leaving little room for additional accumulation under the target. Staking rewards, meanwhile, could keep generating income without requiring further ETH purchases. Hitting the cap would place roughly one in every twenty ETH in circulation under a single corporate treasury, closing the buying phase of the strategy and shifting the focus toward monetizing the position already assembled.

BitMine to Halt ETH Purchases at 5% of Supply

Speaking at Token2049 in Singapore, Lee confirmed that BitMine would stop accumulating Ethereum at its 5% supply target, a limit he described as firm under the company's "Alchemy of 5%" strategy. The firm's most recent purchase of approximately 15,112 ETH raised total holdings to 6,016,414 ETH.

"We thought this would take five years," Lee said. "It took us a little over a year."

Around 100,000 ETH remains before BitMine reaches the 5% mark. At the company's recent purchasing pace, the buying program could conclude within six to seven weeks. Lee also suggested that selling staking rewards could prevent holdings from creeping above 5% of circulating supply once the target is met.

That represents a change in tone. During an August interview on Bankless, Lee said holding more than 5% could make sense as corporate demand for Ethereum grows, if businesses increasingly adopted ETH as a long-term asset. At the time, he also indicated that BitMine could revisit the question in 2027.

Staking Revenue Could Sustain the Treasury

Halting ETH purchases could reduce BitMine's reliance on capital markets to finance further accumulation. Lee believes capping additional buying could also help the company's shares track Ethereum's price movements more closely.

Staking remains a central pillar of BitMine's revenue model. The practice commits ETH to helping secure the Ethereum network in exchange for rewards, giving large holders a way to earn on tokens they retain. The company currently stakes approximately 5,067,309 ETH through its MAVAN network, representing around 84% of its Ethereum treasury, which is at approximately $13.8 billion.

At a seven-day yield of 2.63%, staking could generate an estimated $363 million in annual revenue. Such income could cover existing financial obligations without forcing BitMine to sell its principal ETH holdings.

In August, Lee estimated annual staking revenue at $300 million, a figure he compared with $30 million to $35 million in annual preferred stock dividends. "Instead of us selling Ethereum, we're more likely trying to find ways to monetize our Ethereum holdings," Lee said.

Despite the scale of its treasury, BitMine faces substantial unrealized losses following Ethereum's price decline. Earlier purchases occurred at higher market prices, leaving approximately $4.5 billion in paper losses. ETH traded near $2,567 on Wednesday, following a decline of almost 6%. Measured against that shortfall, the estimated staking income would offset only a fraction of the paper losses on an annual basis.