BitMine Accelerates Accumulation Near Cycle Bottom

• Ethereum trades at $2,046, up 2.67%, holding inside an ascending channel as MFI climbs to 65.13 on the 2-hour chart.
• Open interest rises 5.09% to $27.07B while volume gains 7.12% to $50.96B, with shorts absorbing $42.92M in 24-hour liquidations.
• BitMine increased its weekly ETH purchases to 60,976 tokens, now holding over 4.5 million ETH worth $9 billion despite $7.8 billion in unrealised losses.

Ethereum price today trades near $2,046, up 2.67%, as buyers push price back above the psychologically significant $2,000 level and hold inside a short-term ascending channel. The daily chart remains structurally bearish with all four EMAs positioned well above price, but the intraday recovery is gaining traction and derivatives positioning is shifting in favor of bulls.

Ethereum peaked near $4,900 in August 2025 and has spent the months since carving a persistent downtrend, with price touching lows near $1,800 in late February before the current recovery began. The 20-day EMA at $2,018 is the first real resistance test above current price, sitting just overhead as bulls attempt to reclaim it on a daily close basis.

2-Hour Chart: Ascending Channel Holds As MFI Signals Buying Pressure

The 2-hour chart shows Ethereum trading inside a well-defined ascending channel that has contained price since the late-February lows near $1,800. Price is currently pressing toward the channel midline near $2,100, with the lower boundary providing support around $1,950 on any pullback.

Related: Solana Price Prediction: Bulls Target $94 Supertrend as ETFs Hold $1.5B

The DMI reading shows the plus DI at 25.10 crossing above the minus DI at 22.45, with ADX at 12.54 suggesting the trend is still developing rather than fully committed. The Money Flow Index at 65.13 is more telling, reflecting genuine buying pressure entering the market without yet approaching overbought levels. A sustained hold above $2,050 keeps the path toward the channel upper boundary near $2,300 open.

Key levels:

• Channel lower support: ~$1,950 rising
• 20-day EMA resistance: $2,018
• Channel midline: ~$2,100
• Channel upper boundary: ~$2,300
• 50-day EMA resistance: $2,232

Derivatives: Shorts Getting Washed Out

Open interest jumped 5.09% to $27.07B as volume rose 7.12% to $50.96B, a combination that confirms real positioning rather than noise. The Binance long/short ratio sits at 1.51 for accounts and 1.68 for top trader accounts, while top trader positions show a ratio of 1.28, indicating institutional players are leaning long but not overextended.

The liquidation data is the clearest signal. Over 24 hours, shorts absorbed $42.92M in liquidations against $16.21M for longs. That asymmetry shows sellers are being systematically squeezed as price reclaims $2,000. Options volume surged 28.61% to $1.06B while options OI rose 1.81% to $7.28B, reflecting increased hedging and directional bets as ETH attempts to hold this recovery.

BitMine Accelerates Buying As Tom Lee Calls Late-Stage Crypto Winter

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest Ethereum treasury firm, purchased 60,976 ETH last week in its biggest weekly token acquisition of 2026, bringing total holdings to over 4.5 million ETH worth more than $9 billion. The purchase came despite the firm sitting on estimated unrealised losses of $7.8 billion on its position.

Chairman Thomas Lee, also CIO of Fundstrat, said BitMine deliberately increased its pace of accumulation from the recent weekly average of 45,000 to 50,000 ETH as market signals suggest a potential bottom is forming. Lee framed the current environment as the late stages of a mini crypto winter, noting that nobody rings the bell at the bottom and that the strategy is to slightly increase buying as those signals emerge. 

The firm already earns $174 million in annual staking revenue from over 3 million locked ETH, a figure that could grow to $259 million once all holdings are staked.

Outlook: Will Ethereum Go Up?

• Bullish case: ETH holds the ascending channel above $1,950, reclaims the 20-day EMA at $2,018 on a daily close, and pushes through the $2,100 channel midline. That opens the path toward the channel upper boundary near $2,300 and the 50-day EMA at $2,232.
• Bearish case: Rejection at the 20-day EMA at $2,018 breaks the ascending channel support and exposes the $1,900 to $1,850 zone. A breakdown below $1,800 would put ETH at multi-year lows with limited technical support until the $1,500 to $1,600 range.