Ethereum Price Forecast: BitMine's ETH stash surpasses $9 billion amid ETF outflow pressure

• BitMine's ETH holdings surpassed $9 billion after acquiring about 202,500 ETH last week.

• Ethereum ETFs failed to record inflows throughout last week, extending their outflow streak to five consecutive days, worth over $950 million.

• ETH could decline toward $3,500 if it validates a descending triangle pattern.

Ethereum (ETH) trades around $4,300 on Monday following mixed sentiment from corporate treasuries and investors in ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While the former continued its ETH buying spree with BitMine leading the charge, the latter recorded five consecutive days of net outflows.

BitMine treasury blows past $9 billion amid ETH ETFs' outflows

Ethereum treasury and crypto mining firm BitMine Immersion (BMNR) purchased over 202,500 ETH last week, pushing its total ETH holdings to 2.069 million ETH worth about $9 billion, the firm revealed in a Monday statement.

With over 1.7% of the entire ETH circulation in its possession, BitMine's holdings have surpassed the combined reserve of the eight other ETH treasury firms that trail it, including SharpLink Gaming. The company plans to hold 5% of ETH's circulation in a mission dubbed the "alchemy of 5%."

"...The convergence of both Wall Street moving onto the blockchain and Al/agentic-Al creating a token economy is creating a supercycle for Ethereum. And the power law benefits large holders of ETH, hence, we pursue the 'alchemy of 5%' of ETH," said Fundstrat CIO and BitMine's Chairman Thomas Lee.

BitMine also announced that it invested $20 million into Nasdaq-listed Eightco Holdings (OCTO), making it one of the major investors in the firm's $270 million PIPE offering aimed at launching a Worldcoin (WLD) treasury. Eightco shares surged over 3,000% upon the announcement.

"This strategic investment into OCTO marks the start of BMNR's 'Moonshot' strategy to back bold ideas that strengthen Ethereum's vast ecosystem," wrote BitMine. The move aligns with the company's plan to allocate 1% of its balance sheet into "select investments" in the Ethereum ecosystem.

BitMine is the largest among a growing number of companies that have adopted an ETH treasury over the past four months. SharpLink Gaming and The Ether Machine also made notable ETH purchases last week, boosting the combined holdings of Ethereum treasury firms to 3.8 million ETH, worth about $16.3 billion, per the Strategic ETH Reserve data.

In contrast, US spot Ethereum ETFs failed to record inflows throughout last week, according to SoSoValue data. The products have now posted five consecutive days of net outflows worth $952.2 million, indicating risk aversion or profit-taking from institutional investors.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH risks falling to $3,500 if descending triangle is validated

Traders saw $48 million in Ethereum futures liquidations over the past 24 hours, comprising $22.6 million and $25.5 million in long and short liquidations, according to Coinglass data.

ETH has largely consolidated within the $4,100 to $4,500 range over the past month, trading outside the area only on a few occasions. As a result, ETH has formed a descending triangle pattern on the daily chart, marked by a falling trendline that extended from August 22.

ETH/USDT daily chart

If ETH sustains a firm close below the support level near $4,100 and flips the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) to a resistance level, it would validate the pattern. This could push its price toward the support at $3,472, a target obtained by measuring the height of the triangle and projecting it downward from a potential breakdown point.

On the upside, ETH has to recover the $4,870 level and hold it as support to invalidate the thesis.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is moving horizontally close to its neutral level line while the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) is slightly above its oversold region, indicating a mildly dominant bearish momentum.