The bear market outperforms ETH 731 basis points: BitMine (BMNR.US) repurchase strategy revealed

According to Woofun AI, BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR.US) showed significant resistance to falling in the first nine months of 2026. Its stock price fell by only 3%, while Ethereum (ETH) fell 10% during the same period, widening the performance gap between the two to 731 basis points. Chairman Tom Lee (Tom Lee) attributed this comparative advantage to the company's aggressive capital operations, particularly large-scale share repurchase programs. This strategy is particularly critical in the context of a bear market.

Despite holding a large number of crypto assets, BitMine cushioned the downward pressure on the market through financial means and established its unique position between traditional technology stocks and native crypto assets. This structural advantage became the core logic of its relatively strong stock price.

At the specific execution level, Tom Lee detailed the company's dual strategy in the October 5 weekly update. On the one hand, BitMine implemented the largest share buyback in history, and bought back 21 million shares in 2026 alone, directly supporting stock price performance; on the other hand, the company continued to increase its underlying assets and purchased 15,112 new Ethereum in the week ending October 4, raising its total holdings to about 6.02 million tokens, accounting for 4.9% of the total supply of Ethereum.

According to data compiled by Woofun AI, this “buyback + increase holdings” model is not an exception in the industry, but the scale effect of BitMine is even more remarkable. Looking at a horizontal comparison, according to Yahoo Finance data, other large crypto asset management companies also showed similar trends: Strategy (MSTR.US) shares still rose 0.8% against the backdrop of Bitcoin (BTC) falling; Forward Industries bucked the trend by 18% when Solana (SOL) prices fell; and SharpLink (SBET.US), another Ethereum asset management company, rose 3.8% over the same period, even better than BitMine. This shows that hedging token price fluctuations through balance sheet operations has become the consensus strategy of leading institutions, yet BitMine has taken the lead in relative earnings with more aggressive repurchase efforts.

However, behind the bright stock price performance, huge financial pressure is hidden. According to data released by Artemis on October 6, the Ethereum assets held by BitMine faced unrealized losses of up to $3.6 billion, the largest loss in its asset management records. At press time, Ethereum was trading at $2,703.67, down 1.07% in 24 hours, down about 45% from its peak of $4,946.05 on August 24, 2025. According to Artemis estimates, the average cost for BitMine to hold Ethereum is around $3,300 per coin, which means that the current price is still about 22% behind the original line. Even though Citibank (C.US) predicts that the price of Ethereum will reach $3,028 in 12 months (with room for an increase of about 12% from now), BitMine's asset portfolio will still be in the red in the short term.

However, looking back at the third quarter, BitMine's stock price rebounded by about 99%, while Ethereum rose 71%, showing the company's resilient advantage when market sentiment picked up. The fourth quarter will be a critical testing period to verify whether the “strongest bull cycle in history” expected by Tom Lee can actually be realized, and whether this comparative advantage can continue over a longer period of time.

Looking ahead, BitMine's strategic focus will still be to fill the configuration gap. Currently, the company is still about 88,600 Ethereum short of its 5% asset allocation ratio. This number is not only a financial goal, but also an anchor for its long-term strategy. Whether the company will continue to make up for this gap on a weekly basis will directly determine the level of liquidity support it provides to the Ethereum market, which in turn affects the linkage between its stock price and token price. Investors should pay close attention to the latest developments posted by BitMine on the X platform and YouTube channel. These channels will be a key window for interpreting its follow-up guidelines. As the market enters a period of turbulence, whether BitMine can achieve its goal of increasing holdings while maintaining buyback strength will be a core indicator for measuring its strategic execution.