BitMine’s chairman, Thomas “Tom” Lee, has weighed in on the potential reasons for the recent crypto market’s performance and why he believes the prices may be near the bottom. Related Reading: Is The Bitcoin Bottom In? CMT Reveals What Investors Need To See Now ‘All Pieces In Place’ For Crypto Market Bottom On Monday, BitMine’s chairman and Fundstrat’s CIO, Tom Lee, discussed the recent market crash that has wiped out around 13% of the crypto market’s total value over the past week. During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, the executive affirmed that the crypto market’s reaction to last week’s correction has been “much worse than expected,” as most cryptocurrencies retraced to eight-month lows. Lee argued that non-fundamental factors are responsible for the violent decline, listing the lack of leverage as one of the main reasons. He explained that leverage has yet to return to the crypto industry, as it “sort of deleveraged in October” and continues to see the ripple effect. He also considers that the precious metals’ massive rally in January has added pressure to the crypto market. “Now, when we have gold and silver doing so well, especially at the start of the year,” he asserted, “that created FOMO and was like a vortex sucking all risk appetite towards the precious metals trade.” BitMine’s chair highlighted recent geopolitical tensions and regulatory uncertainty in the US as factors for the weakening prices. “I think the broader economy’s actually in good shape. So, to me, the turmoil here is (…) there’s a lot of uncertainty because of Washington picking winners and losers. And some of this could be the new Fed pick.” Meanwhile, he stated that crypto fundamentals remain strong despite the recent price action. He expects that as long as fundamentals are good, “all the pieces are in place for crypto to be bottoming right now,” arguing that prices have tapped key support levels and “enough time has passed.” BitMine Bets on Ethereum Fundamentals In BitMine’s latest update, Lee also noted Ethereum’s on-chain activity and fundamentals, affirming that they have grown over the past few months even as the ETH price declined to multi-month lows. “During the crypto winter of 2021-2022 or 2018-2019, Ethereum transaction activity and active wallets declined, which is counter to what we have seen in the past 12 months,” he detailed. As a result, BitMine, the second-largest crypto treasury company in the world, has continued to bet on Ethereum during the recent crypto market price correction. The Monday statement announced that the firm had acquired 41,788 ETH in the past week, worth $110 million at current prices. Moreover, the latest purchase has raised BitMine’s holdings to 4,285,125 ETH, 3.55% of Ethereum’s total supply. Related Reading: Crypto Hacks Explode: $370 Million Stolen In January Alone: Researchers Recent online reports pointed out that the crypto treasury company’s unrealized losses rose to $6.6 billion amid this performance, putting the company “on track to become the 5th-largest documented principal trading loss in history if sold.” Nonetheless, “BitMine has been steadily buying Ethereum, as we view this pullback as attractive, given the strengthening fundamentals. In our view, the price of ETH is not reflective of the high utility of ETH and its role as the future of finance,” Lee concluded. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Ethereum has slipped below the $3,000 level, extending a period of fragile price action as the broader crypto market remains cautious. While spot prices continue to struggle with overhead resistance, on-chain data points to a notable divergence between market sentiment and long-term positioning. According to data from Arkham, Bitmine has staked an additional 250,912 ETH—worth roughly $745 million—over the past 18 hours, adding to an already substantial locked position. Related Reading: Ethereum Leverage Remains At Record High: What Happens Next? This move brings renewed attention to the behavior of large, well-capitalized players during periods of price weakness. Staking activity of this magnitude suggests that some participants are prioritizing yield generation and long-term exposure over short-term price fluctuations. Rather than distributing holdings into market rallies, these entities are choosing to remove supply from circulation, tightening liquid availability while accepting reduced flexibility. The contrast is notable. Ethereum’s price is trading below a key psychological threshold, yet capital continues to flow into staking contracts at scale. This dynamic highlights the growing structural role of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model, where investment decisions are increasingly driven by network participation and cash-flow–like returns, not only price appreciation. As Ethereum consolidates below $3,000, the key question is whether sustained staking demand can offset weak spot momentum, or if price will need to stabilize further before confidence returns across the broader market. Large-Scale Staking Tightens Liquid Ethereum Supply According to data from Arkham, Bitmine has now staked a total of 2,582,963 ETH, valued at approximately $7.67 billion. This represents about 61% of its total Ethereum holdings, a level that underscores how aggressively large holders are committing capital to long-term network participation rather than maintaining liquid exposure. This behavior is particularly notable given the current market context. Ethereum remains below the $3,000 level, volatility is elevated, and leverage metrics suggest fragile positioning among short-term traders. Despite this, Bitmine’s decision to stake a majority of its ETH indicates a clear preference for yield generation and balance-sheet efficiency over tactical trading. Staking effectively removes ETH from active circulation, tightening the available supply and capping sell-side pressure from these large wallets. At the same time, Ethereum balances held on exchanges have continued to trend lower, reinforcing the picture of constrained liquid supply. While declining exchange balances do not guarantee upward price movement, they do suggest that fewer coins are readily available to meet sudden sell demand. In this environment, price action becomes more sensitive to marginal flows, particularly during periods of stress or renewed demand. The combination of large-scale staking and shrinking exchange reserves points to a market where long-term holders are locking in exposure. Even as short-term sentiment remains cautious. Whether this structural tightening of supply translates into price support will depend on broader risk conditions and the return of sustained spot demand. Related Reading: OKX Launches Crypto Payment Card Across the European Economic Area ETH Consolidates Below Key Moving Averages Ethereum’s price action reflects a market caught between weakening momentum and an attempt to stabilize after a prolonged correction. On the daily chart, ETH is trading near the $2,900–$3,000 zone, a level that has acted as both psychological support and a pivot area in recent weeks. The rejection from higher levels earlier in the quarter confirmed a clear sequence of lower highs, keeping the broader structure tilted to the downside. From a trend perspective, ETH remains below its key moving averages. The 50-day average has rolled over and sits above the price. Reinforcing short-term bearish pressure, while the 100-day average continues to slope downward. Acting as dynamic resistance near the $3,200–$3,300 area. The 200-day moving average is still rising but flattening. Is positioned higher and signals that long-term trend support has not yet been reclaimed. Until ETH can close decisively above the 50- and 100-day averages, upside attempts are likely to remain corrective rather than impulsive. Related Reading: Bitcoin Derivatives Pressure Hits 30-Day Extreme, Price Refuses To Break Volume dynamics add context to this consolidation. Selling pressure during the latest pullback was notable but not extreme, suggesting distribution rather than panic. Since then, volume has contracted, consistent with a market entering a compression phase. This points to indecision rather than aggressive accumulation. Overall, ETH is consolidating below major resistance while holding a fragile support band near $2,800–$2,900. A sustained loss of this zone would expose downside risk. While any recovery requires a reclaim of key moving averages to shift the structure toward stabilization. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
After being rejected from the $3,000 level, Ethereum (ETH) is trying to hold a key support zone and build a base around this area. Some analysts have suggested that the altcoin must reclaim the crucial resistance soon or risk potential drop to new multi-month lows. Related Reading: XRP ETFs Record 25-Day Streak As Price Eyes Key Resistance Level Ethereum Forms Head And Shoulder Pattern Amid the broader market volatility, Ethereum has been attempting to hold the recently reclaimed $2,900 level as support to potentially challenge higher resistance levels in the coming days. The cryptocurrency has been trading within the $2,800-$3,400 price range over the past month, hitting a high of $3,447 nearly two weeks ago. Since reaching the local high, ETH has struggled to hold the range’s high, falling to the lows again during last week’s market correction. Amid this performance, the King of Altcoins is currently registering its worst Q4 performance since 2019, with a negative performance of 28.76%. Moreover, it is also recording a red December so far, trading 1.3% below its monthly opening of $2,991. Some analysts have warned that ETH’s pain may not be over, as it appears to be forming a pattern that could spell trouble for the cryptocurrency. In a Tuesday X post, Ali Martinez suggested that Ethereum started forming a head and shoulder pattern following the massive corrections that the send most cryptocurrencies to multi-month lows. Per the chart, the altcoin formed the left shoulder between late November and early December after bouncing from the $2,780 support. Meanwhile, the pattern’s head was formed during the mid-December rebound that led to the $3,400 local high. Now, as price is rejected from the $3,000 area again, the cryptocurrency appears to be forming the right shoulder. This suggests that ETH’s price could drop to the $2,800 area to complete the pattern’s formation. Martinez noted that if the pattern is completed, it could lead to a 15% potential move toward $2,400, a level not seen since the start of the Q3 breakout. ETH Price In Trouble? Other market observers suggested Ethereum could be in trouble after being rejected from the $3,000 barrier again. Ted Pillows noted that the altcoin tried to reclaim this level but failed, closing Monday around the $2,948 area. To the analyst, If ETH doesn’t reclaim this key barrier soon, it could likely drop towards the $2,700-$2,800 support zone. On the contrary, a daily close above this level would set the base for a rally toward the $3,300 level. Similarly, Sjuul from AltCryptoGems affirmed that Ethereum “is a bit in trouble after that nasty bearish deviation on top of the range.” He highlighted the altcoin’s rejection from the mid-December highs, which sent the price the lower zone of its one-month range. Related Reading: Dogecoin’s 53,000% Surge Shows Renewed Interest, But Why Is DOGE Price Lagging? Based on this, the analyst suggested that investors could expect “the same to happen on the lower band,” which would see the price retest the $2,600-$2,700 area, and drop as low as $2,400, before bouncing toward the range highs again. Nonetheless, Sjuul declared that “bulls need to establish a proper uptrend here because losing $2700 would be a negative sign.” As of this writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,933, a 2.53% decline in the daily timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Ethereum has reclaimed the $3,000 level after a strong market reaction to improving macro conditions, offering investors a much-needed shift in momentum. The move comes just days after the Federal Reserve officially ended Quantitative Tightening (QT), a policy shift that immediately boosted liquidity expectations across all risk assets. With markets now pricing in an imminent interest rate cut, confidence has begun to return, and ETH is one of the first major assets to respond. Related Reading: Bitcoin Liquidation Dominance Hits Multi-Year High: The Real Cause Behind BTC’s Breakdown This rebound reflects more than just macro relief. According to data from Arkham, shared by Lookonchain, Bitmine continues to accumulate Ethereum at current prices, reinforcing bullish sentiment at a moment when many traders remain cautious. Bitmine’s persistent buying throughout the correction has become one of the most influential signals for on-chain analysts, suggesting that large players see long-term value even as the market wrestles with volatility. Reclaiming $3,000 places Ethereum back above a key psychological level, and the combination of supportive macro policy and whale accumulation provides a stronger foundation than the market had just weeks ago. Bitmine and Linked Wallets Expand Ethereum Holdings According to data from Arkham reported by Lookonchain, Bitmine has purchased another 18,345 ETH, worth approximately $54.94 million, just a few hours ago. This marks yet another large buy in a growing series of aggressive accumulation moves that Bitmine has made throughout the correction. Their continued willingness to buy at current levels signals strong confidence in Ethereum’s long-term value, even as the market navigates heightened volatility. Shortly after this report, Lookonchain highlighted activity from a newly created wallet, 0x52B7, which withdrew 30,278 ETH—valued at $91.16 million—from Kraken. The size and timing of the withdrawal have led analysts to speculate that this wallet may be linked to Bitmine or part of a broader accumulation strategy. Large withdrawals from exchanges typically indicate that the owner intends to hold the assets off-exchange, often for long-term storage or staking, rather than preparing to sell. If the wallet is indeed connected to Bitmine, this would bring their latest combined accumulation to nearly 50,000 ETH in a single day. Such behavior suggests strategic positioning ahead of potential macro-driven upside or internal confidence in Ethereum’s recovery. This kind of synchronized whale activity often precedes significant price shifts, reinforcing the idea that large players are preparing for a stronger market phase. Related Reading: Ethereum Open Interest Cut In Half As $6.4B In Positions Vanish: Market Reset Accelerates ETH Reclaims $3,000 But Still Faces Key Resistance Ethereum’s 3-day chart shows a notable improvement after reclaiming the $3,000 level, but the broader trend still carries signs of fragility. The recent bounce followed a deep corrective move that sent ETH from the $4,500 region down to the $2,700–$2,800 support zone, where buyers finally stepped in with conviction. The strong lower wicks around this area confirm that demand remains active, but Ethereum has yet to fully recover its bullish structure. Price now trades just below the 50 SMA, which sits near the $3,100–$3,150 zone—an important short-term resistance level. A clean break above this moving average would signal renewed momentum and increase the chances of retesting the $3,400–$3,600 range. Meanwhile, the 100 SMA and 200 SMA remain slightly above price, reflecting the broader downtrend that has dominated since September. Related Reading: Bitcoin Flashes Largest Hidden-Buying Spike of the Cycle Despite Losing $90K Level Volume has picked up slightly during the recovery, but it remains muted compared to the selling spikes seen during the drawdown. This indicates cautious buying rather than aggressive accumulation at these levels. To confirm a trend reversal, ETH must close above the 50 SMA and then challenge the cluster of resistance around $3,200–$3,300. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com