Ethereum Price Forecast: BitMine scoops 53K ETH as Lee predicts increased institutional accumulation​

Ethereum price today: $2,470

• BitMine acquired 53,501 ETH last week, its largest purchase since June, extending its buying streak.
• Chairman Thomas Lee predicts increased institutional crypto accumulation in Q3.
• ETH retests $2,431 support as consolidation continues after the recent rally.

Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) extended its ETH buying run following another round of weekly acquisitions.

The firm purchased 53,501 ETH last week, its largest weekly purchase since June and marking 65 consecutive weeks of ETH acquisitions. The move has lifted BitMine's stack to 5.901 million ETH worth $14.63 billion at the time of writing.

ETH has been one of the best-performing assets in Q3, outperforming the S&P 500 by 5,430 basis points, according to BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee.

"We believe this sets the stage for institutions to add to their crypto holdings given the substantial outperformance of crypto versus other macro assets in Q3 so far," wrote Lee in a Monday statement.

He cited multiple catalysts, including the upcoming Senate procedural vote for the crypto market CLARITY Act scheduled for mid-September, Korean investors rotating from AI stocks toward crypto and a potential bottoming of the four-year crypto market cycle.

"This sets the stage for what we expect to be sizable institutional participation in buying crypto in the final months of 2026, especially given the tailwinds of tokenization and Agentic-AI," noted Lee.

BitMine also maintained a 5.067 million ETH stake through its Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), potentially generating annualized staking revenue of $335 million.

The company also reported holdings of 211 Bitcoin (BTC), a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, $81 million worth of Eightco Holdings shares (ORBS) and total cash and marketable securities of $541 million.

The increased cash balance and acquisitions follow rising trading volume in BMNR shares, which averaged $1.36 billion over five days, ranking #62 in the US behind Texas Instruments.

BMNR shares are trading at $25, up 6% at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded a second consecutive week of net inflows worth $824.42 million, its largest since October, per SoSoValue data.

Ethereum technical outlook: ETH consolidates above $2,400

Ethereum has seen $103.3 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, led by $71 million in long liquidations, according to Coinglass data.

​​On the daily chart, ETH is extending its bullish near-term bias as price holds above the 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), which fan out below spot price and reinforce a constructive trend structure.

The top altcoin is pressing into fresh local highs with the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 71 and the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) near 87, suggesting overbought but still strong upside momentum that keeps any corrective pullbacks framed as consolidation within the prevailing uptrend.

On the downside, initial support is seen at the recent horizontal level near $2,431, followed by the 20-day EMA and the $2,172 area, where underlying demand is backed by the 50-, 100- and 200-day EMAs clustered between roughly $2,160 and $2,090.

Deeper declines would test $1,961, then $1,809. On the topside, immediate resistance emerges at $2,680, ahead of a higher barrier at $2,879, where a break would open the way for a continuation of the broader bullish leg.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)