Ethereum struggles near $1,900 as BitMine bets ETH will beat Bitcoin

Ethereum remains bearish despite Bitcoin recording gains over the last 24 hours. 

Ethereum treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) expects ETH to outperform Bitcoin (BTC) in the coming market cycle as institutional tokenization and agentic artificial intelligence increase demand for blockchain infrastructure.

The forecast was accompanied by another week of Ethereum purchases and share repurchases by BitMine, which now holds approximately 5.815 million ETH.

BitMine extends Ethereum accumulation and share buybacks

BitMine acquired 9,926 ETH last week, continuing a weekly buying streak that began in June 2025. The latest purchase increased the company’s total Ethereum holdings to 5.815 million tokens.

The firm also repurchased 1.7 million BMNR shares during the week.

This brought its cumulative repurchases since July 1 to 20.8 million shares under its previously approved $4 billion stock-buyback program.

BitMine has staked approximately 5.067 million ETH, representing 87% of its total holdings. The company estimates that this position generates annualized staking revenue of around $250 million.

Beyond Ethereum, BitMine’s treasury includes 210 BTC, $73 million in Eightco Holdings shares, a $180 million investment in Beast Industries and $78 million in cash and marketable securities.

BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee believes Ethereum’s growing role in tokenized finance and AI-driven commerce could help ETH gain ground against Bitcoin.

Lee noted that the ETH/BTC ratio has broken above a one-year downtrend, a development he associated with the stronger relative performance Ethereum has historically recorded during crypto bull markets.

Previous cycles were driven by different uses of the Ethereum network, including initial coin offerings between 2017 and 2018, non-fungible tokens in 2020 and 2021, and stablecoins in 2025.

BitMine expects the next expansion cycle to be supported by Wall Street firms placing traditional assets on blockchains and autonomous AI agents using blockchain networks to complete transactions.

Ethereum could benefit from this trend because its smart-contract infrastructure supports tokenized assets, stablecoins, decentralized applications and programmable payments. 

Increased network activity could drive demand for ETH as both a transaction-fee asset and staking collateral.

Institutional demand showed signs of cooling last week, despite BitMine’s continued accumulation.

US spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded $2.26 million in net outflows, according to SoSoValue. The result ended five consecutive weeks of positive flows.

However, the positive flows resumed as the ETFs recorded an inflow of $4.95 million on Monday. 

Ethereum price outlook: ETH challenges $1,918 resistance

Ethereum is trading slightly above its 20-day and 50-day EMAs, positioned around $1,885 and $1,868, respectively. 

These moving averages provide an immediate support zone, while the 100-day EMA at $1,918 continues to restrict the recovery.

Momentum indicators support a cautiously bullish outlook. The Relative Strength Index is near 54, while the Stochastic oscillator stands around 63. 

Both readings indicate improving buying pressure without suggesting that ETH has reached overbought conditions.

A decisive break above the 100-day EMA would expose the horizontal resistance level at $1,961. 

Sustained buying above this barrier could pave the way for an extended recovery toward $2,172 and subsequently $2,431.

Conversely, another rejection from $1,918 could push ETH back toward the 20-day and 50-day EMAs.

A breakdown below this support cluster would shift attention to $1,809.

If selling pressure intensifies, Ethereum could fall toward the deeper support levels at $1,701 and $1,507.