TLDR
- Bitmine, led by Tom Lee, bought 60,000 ETH worth $126 million in 24 hours, pushing its total holdings above 5.33 million ETH.
- ETH is trading around $2,044, struggling to hold the $2,000 level after the SEC delayed its decision on tokenized stocks.
- Crypto analyst Ted flagged key liquidity clusters at $2,400–$2,600 on the upside and $1,700–$1,900 on the downside.
- Concerns about the Ethereum Foundation’s management are creating FUD, though analysts note development continues across multiple independent teams.
- Bitmine is on track for Russell 1000 inclusion after FTSE Russell published preliminary index changes.
Ethereum is trading around $2,044 as of the latest data, sitting under the psychologically important $2,000 level after a rough stretch for the broader crypto market. The price drop follows the SEC delaying its decision on tokenized stocks, which hit a key bull case that investors had been watching closely.
Despite the pressure, institutional buying has not slowed down. Tom Lee’s Bitmine added 60,000 ETH — worth around $126 million — in a single 24-hour window, according to on-chain analytics platform Onchain Lens. The firm now holds over 5.33 million ETH, which represents more than 4.3% of the total ETH supply.
THESE WHALES JUST BOUGHT $125M ETH
Two Fresh ETH Whale addresses just withdrew $125.91M ETH from Kraken and Bitgo this morning. Their purchase patterns match prior purchase patterns of Bitmine.
Is Tom Lee stacking $ETH? pic.twitter.com/umnGd1Junn
— Arkham (@arkham) May 23, 2026
Bitmine had earlier in the week already made a $154 million ETH purchase. Lee has publicly called the recent price dip below $2,200 an “attractive opportunity,” and the company is staking over 4.7 million of its ETH holdings. Those staked holdings are generating annualized staking revenues of around $289 million.
Analyst Flags Key Liquidity Levels
On-chain analyst Ted has mapped out where liquidity is concentrated around ETH’s current price. According to Ted, there is short-side liquidity building at the $2,400 and $2,600 levels above the current price. On the downside, long-side liquidity sits at $1,700 and $1,900. These clusters often act as magnets for price action, and Ted asked publicly where traders expect ETH to move first.
$ETH has a few large liquidity clusters right now.
On the upside, Ethereum has short-side liquidity around $2,400 and $2,600 levels.
On the downside, ETH has long-side liquidity around $1,700 and $1,900 levels.
Where do you think ETH will move first? pic.twitter.com/947IgV59Ub
— Ted (@TedPillows) May 23, 2026
A second analyst, Celal Kucuker, described ETH as “coiled like a spring,” pointing to a potential breakout if the price can hold above a key red support level and build short-term momentum.
Ethereum is coiled like a spring fully tightened, ready to snap.$ETH Open above red support and short-term momentum could explode upward. pic.twitter.com/QKJDzUrBW9
— Celal Kucuker (@CelalKucuker) May 23, 2026
Ethereum Foundation Scrutiny and FUD Continue
A separate pressure point on ETH has been growing criticism of the Ethereum Foundation. Analyst Papaxem noted that concerns about the Foundation’s project management are circulating, and some of those concerns have merit. The situation was highlighted further when Bankless, a media brand closely aligned with Ethereum, disclosed it had sold its ETH and moved into Zcash.
Papaxem argues the key detail being missed is that Ethereum is not controlled by the Foundation alone. Projects like ConsenSys and dozens of independent developer teams continue building on the network regardless of Foundation leadership issues.
Analyst Rios added on X that ETH’s nearly 19% drop could represent a cycle reset — clearing out weaker market positioning — rather than a structural breakdown. Rios said if price stabilizes at current levels, the next recovery phase could be stronger than expected.
Ethereum might be resetting for something bigger.
I think $ETH dropping nearly 19% could actually be the kind of cycle reset that clears out weak positioning before a stronger move higher.
These sharp corrections usually happen right before momentum rotates back into Ethereum… pic.twitter.com/1aS0MctuQD
— Rios (@Riosweb3) May 22, 2026
Bitmine is also on track for inclusion in the Russell 1000 index after FTSE Russell published preliminary changes. Tom Lee noted that BMNR stock’s market cap is above the $5.7 billion minimum for large-cap inclusion, which could bring increased passive fund buying into the stock.
Ethereum is currently trading at around $2,044, according to TradingView.
