Ethereum Price Forecast: BitMine lifts holdings to 4.97 million ETH, says crypto winter is ending

Ethereum price today: $2,310

• BitMine increased its holdings to 4.97 million ETH last week after acquiring 101,627 ETH, its largest weekly purchase since mid-December.
• BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee noted that the crypto winter is nearing its end, citing similarities with equity drawdowns in previous years.
• ETH has tested the 20-day EMA after declining below $2,400 over the weekend.

Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) acquired 101,627 ETH last week, marking its largest weekly purchase since mid-December. That amount is also about 42% greater than its average weekly acquisition over the past month.

The latest purchase has pushed BitMine's Ethereum stash to 4.97 million ETH, worth roughly $11.44 billion at the time of publication. The company stated that it is 82% closer to its goal of acquiring 5% of the top altcoin.

"We see growing signs that the 'mini-crypto' winter is coming to an end. As downside tail risks for the US-Iran war diminish, ETH has risen 41% from its early February lows. And ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 by 2,280 basis points since the war started and remains the single best performing asset in the world (beside crude oil prices)," noted BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee in a Monday statement. "In our view, there is a lot of meaning to ETH being the best 'war-time store of value' and to ETH being the asset leading since the war started."

The BitMine chairman also said the crypto winter won't last through the Fall of 2026, as some have predicted. Several analysts, including CryptoQuant researchers, have previously stated that the crypto market is in a bear season and could experience deeper pullbacks.

"Every major crypto winter since 2015 has coincided with an equity drawdown of at least 20%. In fact, the 2025 crypto drawdown moved in sync with the 20% decline in the S&P 500. But in 2026, the equity decline has been milder at -8%," Lee added.

BitMine also reported holdings of 199 Bitcoin (BTC), a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, a $107 million stake in Eightco Holdings and total cash of $1.12 billion. The company also said it has staked 3.33 million ETH from its holdings, with annualized staking revenue at $221 million.

The statement follows BitMine's Q1 results last week, where it reported a net loss of $3.82 billion. The huge loss was driven by $3.78 billion in unrealized markdowns on its ETH holdings.

Apart from BitMine, ETH is also seeing demand on the traditional market, with spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) pulling in $275.83 million in net weekly inflows, their largest since January, according to SoSoValue data.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH tests 20-day EMA after weekend decline

Ethereum experienced $144.4 million in futures liquidations over the past 24 hours, driven by $101.1 million in liquidated long positions.

After failing to hold above $2,400 over the weekend, ETH maintains a constructive near-term bullish bias as price bounced near the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $2,252 and the 50-day EMA at $2,211. The move suggests underlying dip-buying interest after the recent advance.

Momentum indicators back this tone, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 55 and the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) around 61, both pointing to positive but not overextended upside pressure.

On the topside, initial resistance emerges at the 100-day EMA near $2,354 and the horizontal barrier at $2,388 before more distant objectives at $2,746 and $3,411. On the downside, immediate support lies at the 20-day EMA, followed by a dense floor formed by the convergence of the 50-day EMA and the $2,211 horizontal level. A deeper pullback would bring $2,107 into view, ahead of broader supports at $1,909 and $1,741.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)