Major Institutions Ramp Up Post-Crash Accumulation as Crypto Markets Rebound

BitMine, Strategy, and Marathon Digital Lead Massive Post-Dip Accumulation Spree 

TL;DR:

• Institutional buyers seized the market crash as an entry point, accumulating over $1 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum within days.
• BitMine added 202,000 ETH worth $838 million, while Strategy and Marathon Digital expanded their Bitcoin holdings.
• Despite $19 billion in liquidations, the crypto price index stabilized, signaling renewed institutional conviction.

The October 10 market crash — triggered following a surprise 100% tariff announcement on Chinese imports by President Trump — wiped out over $19 billion in leveraged positions and pushed the global crypto price index to its lowest level in months. Bitcoin briefly slipped below $110,000, erasing more than 10% of its value within hours, while Ethereum, Solana, and XRP tumbled between 15% and 30%. Coin market cap figures dropped under $3.24 trillion at the height of the panic, forcing over 1.6 million traders into liquidations. Gold rallied to $4,096 per ounce as investors temporarily rotated into traditional safe-haven assets.

The panic proved to be short-lived. Within days, major institutions began aggressively buying the dip, pouring more than $1 billion back into the market. BitMine Immersion Technologies, led by Tom Lee, executed one of the largest Ethereum purchases in corporate history—acquiring 202,037 ETH valued at roughly $827–$838 million at an average price of $4,154 per coin. The acquisition boosted BitMine’s total holdings to 3,032,188 ETH, about 2.5% of the entire circulating supply, pushing its total treasury value above $13.4 billion. The firm framed the move as a strategic accumulation phase, reiterating its long-term goal of securing 5% of Ethereum’s total supply and calling market volatility an “advantage for disciplined investors.”

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, also returned to its signature Bitcoin accumulation strategy, purchasing 220 BTC for $27.2 million at an average price of $123,561 per coin. The buy, funded through a $27.3 million preferred stock sale, lifted the company’s total holdings to 640,250 BTC with a historical average cost of around $73,000. Despite buying before Bitcoin’s post-crash lows near $110,000, Strategy remains up roughly $3.9 billion in unrealized gains. Analysts at Benchmark maintained a Buy rating with a $705 target, citing the firm’s bitcoin-linked perpetual preferred shares as an innovative bridge between digital assets and fixed-income products.

Marathon Digital Holdings followed with a $46.3 million purchase of 400 BTC, raising its total to 52,850 BTC valued at roughly $6.1 billion. The miner also reported producing 705 BTC in September amid peak network difficulty. Metrics across the Bitcoin ecosystem show a softening miner sell pressure: the Miner Position Index briefly spiked during the crash but turned negative as prices recovered to $115,000. Marathon continues to expand its low-carbon mining footprint, acquiring a 64% stake in Exaion, an EDF subsidiary, with plans to increase ownership to 75% by 2027.

Smaller players joined the wave. The UK-listed Smarter Web Company bought 100 BTC worth $12.1 million at an average price of $120,480, lifting its total holdings to 2,650 BTC valued around $219 million. Though its scale is modest compared to U.S. giants, the firm remains the UK’s largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder and continues to follow a long-term treasury conversion plan.

Institutional activity extended beyond individual corporate treasuries. Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $3.17 billion in inflows during the same week—$2.6 billion into Bitcoin and $338 million into Ethereum—lifting 2025’s year-to-date inflows to $48.7 billion, surpassing 2024’s full-year total. Even amid panic, only $159 million in outflows were recorded, reinforcing the thesis that large investors used the sell-off to strengthen long-term positions. Analysts said the structure of these inflows reflects a transition from speculative leverage toward sustained institutional ownership across the coin market cap spectrum.

Market sentiment has quickly shifted from capitulation to cautious optimism. Nic Puckrin, co-founder of Coin Bureau, described the weekend sell-off as “a brutal reminder of how leverage magnifies risk,” yet emphasized the resilience shown by institutional buyers. Whales and miners are already rebalancing portfolios, while on-chain data indicates renewed accumulation in major wallets. The crypto price index has since recovered alongside stabilized derivatives funding rates, and overall market capitalization is climbing back toward the $3.5 trillion threshold.

The October crash highlighted a familiar pattern across digital assets: deep volatility followed by aggressive institutional accumulation. As corporate treasuries expand and exchange-traded inflows accelerate, Bitcoin and Ethereum are once again proving their gravitational pull on global capital—even in moments of maximum fear.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.