BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, continues buying the dip, despite the industry’s most successful traders betting on Ethereum’s price fall.
BitMine acquired $199 million worth of Ether (ETH) during the past two days, through a $68 million ETH acquisition on Saturday and another $130.7 million buy on Friday, according to blockchain data platform Lookonchain.
With the latest investments, BitMine now holds $11.3 billion, or 3.08%, of the total Ether supply, closing in on its 5% accumulation target, according to data from the StrategicEthReserve.
BitMine’s continued accumulations are a strong sign of conviction in Ether’s long-term growth potential. The company holds an additional $882 million in cash reserves, which may be used for more Ether accumulation.
Largest corporate Ether holders. Source: Strategicethreserve.xyz
BitMine’s investment comes amid a significant slowdown in digital asset treasury (DAT) activity, which saw corporate Ether acquisitions fall 81% in three months, from 1.97 million Ether in August to 370,000 in net ETH acquired in November.
Despite the slowdown, BitMine accumulated the lion’s share, or 679,000 Ether worth $2.13 billion during the past month.
Smart money traders are betting on Ether’s price decline
The crypto industry’s best-performing traders by returns, who are tracked as “smart money” traders on Nansen’s blockchain intelligence platform, are betting on the short-term depreciation of Ether’s price.
Smart money traders top perpetual futures positions on Hyperliquid. Source: Nansen
Smart money traders added $2.8 million in short positions over the past 24 hours, as the cohort was net short on Ether, with a cumulative short position of $21 million, according to Nansen.
Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a significant driver of liquidity for Ether, also continue to lack demand.
Ethereum ETF Flow USD, in million. Source: Farside Investors
The spot Ether ETFs recorded $75.2 million in net positive outflows for the second consecutive day on Friday, following the $1.4 billion in monthly outflows in November, according to Farside Investors.
