While the market is still struggling with short-term ups and downs, some institutions are already playing a bigger game.

In early October, BitMine made another move—purchasing 23,000 ETH, spending approximately $103 million. After this operation, their total ETH holdings surpassed 2.87 million, which, based on the current price, values this asset at about $12.6 billion.

The key point is that all of this happened during Ethereum's decline from its August high of $4,600. The market was fearful, but institutions were accumulating. What exactly gives them such strong confidence behind this contrarian move?

BitMine's strategy is actually quite simple: referencing MicroStrategy's approach to Bitcoin, they use financing to enter the market and then acquire Ethereum on a large scale. What is their ultimate goal? To control 5% of the total circulating Ethereum supply worldwide. This is not short-term speculation but a genuine strategic asset allocation.

What’s interesting is their method. Instead of buying all at once, they split the purchases into multiple transactions, which helps avoid large orders impacting the price and allows for gradual accumulation. During times of frequent market volatility, this cautious yet firm pace best demonstrates their approach—they don't care about short-term price fluctuations; they are focused on long-term token accumulation.

While retail investors are still watching candlestick charts and guessing ups and downs, institutions are steadily weaving their own future.