After the October crash shook global markets, crypto assets continued their volatile run, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) still below their pre-crash levels.
Despite the downturn, institutional confidence remains strong as corporate giants BitMine Immersion Technologies and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) seize the dip to expand their crypto holdings.
Institutional Buyers Turn Crypto Market Turbulence Into Opportunity
BeInCrypto Markets data showed that despite a brief rebound, both BTC and ETH remained in the red over the past week. Bitcoin’s weekly losses deepened to 4.28%, while ETH dropped 6.50%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $109,524 — about 10.6% below its pre–Black Friday crash level of over $122,500.
Meanwhile, ETH stood at $3,932, marking a 10.5% decline from its pre-crash price of $4,395. Nonetheless, major institutions capitalized on these low prices as evidenced by their latest buying sprees.
Blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence reported that BitMine Immersion Technologies purchased $250 million worth of ETH.
“Tom Lee just bought another $250 million ETH. Three new addresses just bought a total of $250 million ETH from Bitgo and Kraken. These accounts match Bitmine’s prior acquisition pattern,” Arkham wrote.
Furthermore, the firm’s latest disclosure revelaed that they accumulated 203,826 ETH, valued at over $800 million, over the past week. BitMine’s total holdings have now surpassed 3.3 million ETH.
The stack is valued at around $13 billion and accounts for over 2.7% of ETH’s supply. The firm is now past the halfway mark toward its target of securing 5% of all ETH in circulation.
BitMine’s chairman, Tom Lee, reiterated his confidence in Ethereum. He added that, given ETH’s future potential, the recent price dip was an attractive risk-vs.-reward buying opportunity.
“The crypto market saw one of its largest deleveraging events ever last week and this put downward pressure on ETH prices. Open interest for ETH sits at the same levels as seen on June 30th of this year (ETH was $2,500). Given the expected Supercycle for ethereum, this price dislocation represents an attractive risk/reward,” Lee noted.
Meanwhile, Strategy, the largest corporate holder of BTC also increased its exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency. In a post on X, the firm’s founder Michael Saylor announed the aquisition of 168 BTC for $18.8 million.
The average purchase price per coin was around $112,051. Strategy now controls 640,418 BTC, valued at over $69.3 billion at current market prices.
“Strategy has acquired 168 BTC for ~$18.8 million at ~$112,051 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 26.0% YTD 2025,” Saylor posted.
Notably, while the accumulated cryptocurrencies continued to decline in value, the buying activity had a positive impact on both companies’ stock prices. This signaled investor confidence in their long-term strategies.
According to Google Finance data, BitMine’s shares (BMNR) closed the day at $53.8. This marked an appreciation of 7.92%. However, the stock saw a modest pullback of 0.19% during after-hours trading.
BitMine Stock Performance. Source: Google Finance
Similarly, Strategy’s stock (MSTR) also responded positively to the firm’s latest Bitcoin acquisition. Shares rose 2.3% to $296.6, extending gains by another 0.27% in after-hours trading.
Strategy Stock Performance. Source: Google Finance
Markets are watching to see if continued inflows from firms like BitMine and Strategy will mark a turning point for the assets. What’s clear: major institutions are driving the current narrative and betting big on the next cycle—even as volatility tests confidence throughout the crypto ecosystem.
