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Ethereum

South Korea’s ‘Ant Army’ Bets $1.4 Billion on Tom Lee’s Bitmine (BMNR) in 2025

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Cyclespace Exchange

Cyclespace Exchange

Jan 1, 2026, 06:45 PM

Key Takeaways

  • 1

    Massive Inflows:

    South Korean retail investors net-purchased a staggering $1.4 billion worth of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) in 2025.

  • 2

    Market Popularity:

    BMNR emerged as the second most popular overseas stock in South Korea, trailing only Alphabet (Google) and surpassing tech giants like Tesla and Nvidia in retail preference.

  • 3

    Strategic Pivot:

    he buying frenzy was triggered by Bitmine's shift from Bitcoin mining to an aggressive Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy led by Chairman Tom Lee.

  • 4

    High-Risk Appetite:

    Investors doubled down despite a brutal 82% pullback in the stock price from its July peak, with an additional $566 million flowing into 2X leveraged BMNR ETFs.

  • 5

    Treasury Dominance:

    Bitmine now holds over 4.11 million ETH (~$12.1 billion), representing approximately 3.4% of the total ETH supply, making it the world's largest Ethereum treasury.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — In a record-breaking year for cross-border retail trading, South Korean investors—famously known as the "Ant Army"—have funneled more than $1.4 billion into the U.S.-listed firm Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE American: BMNR). According to the latest year-end data from the Korea Securities Depository, the Tom Lee-led company has become a central pillar of the South Korean "crypto-equity" portfolio, marking one of the most significant retail-led capital flows into a single digital asset-linked security in history.

The $1.4 billion net purchase comes despite extreme volatility that saw BMNR shares surge over 3,000% in the first half of 2025 before a sharp correction. The persistence of the "Ant Army" highlights a structural shift in how Asian retail capital is seeking exposure to the Ethereum ecosystem through regulated, traditional equity markets.

Expanded Context: The "Alchemy of 5%" and Tom Lee’s Vision

The catalyst for this unprecedented demand was Bitmine's mid-2025 pivot, orchestrated by Chairman and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee. Moving away from its origins as a pure-play Bitcoin miner, Bitmine announced a strategy termed the "Alchemy of 5%," with the explicit goal of accumulating 5% of the entire circulating supply of Ethereum.

By late December 2025, Bitmine had successfully amassed roughly 3.41% of all ETH, positioning itself as the largest "fresh money" buyer of the asset globally. For South Korean traders, who traditionally favor "altcoins" and high-beta assets, BMNR provided a unique hybrid: a Nasdaq-style equity structure that tracks the upside of Ethereum with the added management of a veteran Wall Street strategist.

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📊Deep Dive Analysis

Informed Analysis: Resilience Amidst the 82% Crash

The most striking aspect of the South Korean investment is its timing. Much of the $1.4 billion was committed as the stock price declined from its July highs. While traditional institutional logic might suggest a "flight to safety," South Korean retail traders treated the dip as a generational entry point.

  • Leveraged Obsession: Beyond direct stock purchases, South Korean traders directed $566 million into the T-Rex 2X Long BitMine Daily Target ETF. This indicates that a significant segment of the market isn't just seeking exposure—they are seeking amplified exposure to Bitmine's volatility, even as the leveraged product fell over 86% from its September highs.
  • The "Premium" Factor: BMNR has consistently traded at a significant premium to its Net Asset Value (NAV). Investors are effectively paying for Tom Lee’s strategic management and the company’s upcoming Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), a proprietary staking infrastructure set to launch in Q1 2026.

Balanced Perspective: Innovation vs. "Ant" Psychology

Critics of the "Ant Army" often point to a "gambler’s fallacy" in South Korean retail behavior, where traders chase falling knives in hopes of a rapid "V-shaped" recovery. The sheer volume of capital—$1.4 billion—is larger than the market cap of many mid-sized Korean domestic firms, raising concerns about domestic capital flight.

However, proponents argue that South Korean investors are simply more sophisticated in their understanding of the "crypto supercycle." By backing a firm like Bitmine, which is supported by heavyweights like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, retail traders are aligning themselves with a new class of "Institutional Ether Accumulators" that operate similarly to Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy but with a focus on the smart-contract layer of the economy.

📊Conclusion

Risk & Security Context: Centralization and Staking

As Bitmine approaches its 5% accumulation goal, the market faces two primary risks:

  1. Centralization of Consensus: Owning 5% of all ETH would give a single corporate entity significant influence over Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. While Bitmine has pledged to use its MAVAN network to support "decentralized American infrastructure," the concentration of such a large stake remains a point of debate among Ethereum purists.
  2. Liquidity Mismatch: If Bitmine’s retail-heavy investor base were to suddenly exit due to a change in South Korean regulatory sentiment or a broader economic downturn, the stock could face a "liquidity vacuum" that disconnects it even further from its underlying ETH value.

As we move into 2026, the success of Bitmine—and by extension, the portfolios of millions of South Korean "ants"—will depend on the successful execution of its staking revenue model and the broader recovery of the Ethereum price, which ended 2025 down roughly 11%.

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