As Tom Lee's Bitmine nears its 5% goal, concerns are being raised over the potential impact that paused accumulation will have on price. | Source: CCN.
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Key Takeaways
Ethereum is trading roughly 30% below its 200-week SMA for only the second time in history.
Bankless co-founder David Hoffman questioned where the next major source of demand will come from.
Tom Lee’s Bitmine is nearing its 5% Ethereum ownership target.
Ethereum’s price is again trading roughly 30% below its 200-week simple moving average (SMA) for only the second time in its history, a zone that has only appeared during periods of severe market stress.
The move has ignited debate after Bankless co-founder David Hoffman questioned where the next major source of demand would come from if Ethereum continues to weaken.
As Tom Lee’s Bitmine gets extremely close to its 5% accumulation goal after $18 billion in buying, concerns are growing about where the next mass accumulation will come from for Ethereum.
David Hoffman Raises Concerns
Hoffman, who recently announced he had sold all his Ethereum holdings, raised concerns about Ethereum’s price trajectory.
“ETH was trading below its 200-week SMA for the first time in history, and then Tom Lee plowed $18b into it to save it,” Hoffman wrote on X.
“Now it’s once again 30% below the 200-week SMA. Where will the next $18b of buying come from? I am unsure.”
At the time of reporting, Bitmine holds nearly 5.4 million ETH.
The firm now holds roughly 4.59% of the total circulating token supply, and he actively stakes more than 80% of those holdings to generate yield
In a follow-up post, Hoffman argued that Ethereum may need to restore its deflationary dynamics to regain investor confidence.
“I think we just need to make ETH deflationary again and we can go back to ultrasound money,” he wrote.
The comments triggered debate across the Ethereum community.
Critics accused Hoffman of focusing excessively on bearish price action, while supporters argued that concerns about institutional demand were legitimate given Ethereum’s prolonged underperformance relative to Bitcoin.
Some Ethereum bulls pushed back on David Hoffman’s comments. | Source: X (@Ethereum_Maxis)
Ethereum commentator Ethereum Maxis pushed back against the bearish narrative, writing:
“You seem extremely desperate for ETH to go down, your ego can’t accept possibly being wrong eh?”
In a separate post, the account argued that any future recovery could catch much of the market offside.
“The ETH rally will be the most hated rally in crypto history. Not because people didn’t see it coming. Because they did see it coming, sold the bottom anyway, and now need ETH to fail so their ego can survive.”
Ethereum Price Falls Below the 200-Week Average for the Second Time
For technical analysts, the 200-week SMA is one of the most closely watched long-term trend indicators in crypto markets.
Assets trading significantly below this average are often considered historically undervalued relative to their long-term trend, although such conditions can persist for extended periods during bear markets.
Ethereum first fell decisively below the indicator during the major market correction in early 2025.
The weakness is also visible across shorter-term metrics.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum was trading at $1,718.
This is below its 20-day EMA at $1,789, below its 50-day EMA at $1,966, and well below its 200-day EMA at $2,460.
At the same time, shorter timeframes have started to show signs of stabilization.
In the last 24-hours, Ethereum is up 2.56%, slightly outperforming a broader market rally.
How Bitmine’s Buying Helped During the Last Breakdown
Although some market participants describe Bitmine as having “saved” Ethereum during the previous breach of the 200-week SMA, the historical record is more nuanced.
During that period, Bitmine began aggressively accumulating, steadily increasing purchases throughout market weakness.
The buying did not immediately reverse Ethereum’s decline.
However, as market sentiment improved later in 2025, the combination of persistent accumulation and improving risk appetite helped support a powerful recovery that ultimately carried ETH to new all-time highs near $5,000 in August 2025.
Could Bitmine Slow Purchases Just as Ethereum Price Needs Support?
Since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy in mid-2025, the company has amassed more than 5.5 million ETH, representing roughly 4.6% of Ethereum’s circulating supply.
But Tom Lee has previously indicated that a 5% ownership target represented a key milestone for the strategy.
If Bitmine approaches that threshold and slows the pace of accumulation, Ethereum could lose one of its most consistent institutional buyers at a time when demand remains fragile.
Bulls and Bears Remain Deeply Divided on Ethereum Price
“In the last bear cycle, ETH crashed -82% from its ATH and formed a bottom in June 2022,” it wrote.
One X user responded: “Bearish either way. ETH is cooked.”
“We should get a nice bounce next week,” another said.
Traders and analysts will continue to watch key technical levels closely.
A sustained move above the $1,789 area would represent the first meaningful improvement in Ethereum’s daily structure in weeks, while a break below $1,707 could expose the market to another test of lower support zones.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
