BitMine’s ETH buying spree is clogging Ethereum’s staking pipes: What comes next?

A $130 million ETH purchase puts BitMine further ahead of its corporate rivals, but the influx lands just as Ethereum’s staking entry lines hit multi-day highs, squeezing validator activation timelines. Now, the question isn’t just who’s buying, it’s who can even move their coins anymore.

On August 15, a wallet tagged as belonging to BitMine received five large Ether (ETH) transfers totaling approximately 28,650 ETH (worth $130 million) from Galaxy Digital’s over-the-counter desk.

The transactions, tracked via the Arkham Intelligence dashboard, landed in BitGo-custodied wallets. BitGo is a U.S.-regulated provider of institutional-grade storage solutions, currently safeguarding over $100 billion in digital assets. The move follows BitMine’s recent announcement of a $24.5 billion stock offering, explicitly earmarked for expanding its ETH treasury, now valued at $5 billion.

While sizable by any measure, the latest inflow carries broader weight in today’s market context. BitMine already holds the largest corporate ETH treasury on record, and each addition compounds its influence on Ethereum’s supply and staking dynamics.

Corporate ETH hoarding meets staking congestion

Following its latest $130 million purchase, BitMine’s Ethereum stash now stands at roughly 1.15 million ETH, worth over $5 billion at current prices, according to Arkham data. That figure eclipses every other corporate holder, including SharpLink’s 728,804 ETH, The Ether Machine’s 345,400 ETH, and even the Ethereum Foundation’s 231,600 ETH, according to StrategicETHReserve.xyz data.

BitMine has stated that all of its holdings are staked for yield. This posture not only removes coins from circulating supply but also embeds the firm more deeply into Ethereum’s validator economy.

That economy appears to be under strain. Data from Validator Queue shows 355,919 ETH currently in the validator entry queue, with would-be stakers facing a wait time of six days and four hours before they can start earning rewards.

The exit queue is even more congested, holding 831,056 ETH with an estimated delay of 14 days and 10 hours. With 1,085,264 active validators and 35.6 million ETH (about 29.46% of total supply) already staked, the network is seeing one of its most crowded activation periods in recent weeks.

For smaller operators, these delays complicate capital planning. For large treasuries like BitMine’s, they signal that the staking landscape is becoming increasingly competitive and yield-sensitive.

Is the market unfazed?

Markets appear to be treating BitMine’s aggressive ETH accumulation as a bullish signal. South Korean retail investors, locally known as “seohak ants,” sold $721 million worth of Tesla shares over the past month and redirected $269 million into BitMine’s stock alone, The Korea Economic Daily reported, citing data from the Korea Securities Depository.

The shift mirrors a broader appetite for crypto-linked equities, with Coinbase, Robinhood, and SharpLink also seeing heavy inflows. The trend suggests growing retail confidence in corporate ETH accumulation as a viable investment strategy, despite warnings from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who recently likened overleveraged treasuries to “leveraged poker.”

Yet risks linger beneath the surface. Buterin’s caution, while tempered by optimism, underscores the precarious nature of corporate ETH hoarding. A sudden market downturn could force liquidations, adding sell pressure. Meanwhile, the validator backlog introduces operational risks like delayed exits, which could trap capital at precisely the wrong moment.