Bit Digital has been quietly stacking Ethereum as a core strategic balance-sheet asset for years — long before the broader institutional crowd warmed up to the idea. The firm's latest purchase, disclosed this week, is just the most recent installment in a buying program that's spanned multiple market cycles. The timing aligns with a broader accumulation trend: wallets holding at least 100,000 ETH now collectively own 17.41 million ETH, a nine-week high and roughly 22% of all circulating supply.
Bit Digital's long play
The crypto miner and digital-asset treasury manager treats ETH not as a speculative bet but as a foundational piece of its reserves. Company filings and public statements show the position has been built methodically over the past several years. While many corporate treasuries only began warming to Ethereum after the ETF approvals and the tokenization wave, Bit Digital was already treating it as settlement infrastructure — a view that's now becoming mainstream.
Whale wallets keep growing
On-chain data shows the cohort of the largest Ethereum holders — addresses with 100,000 ETH or more — has added significantly to their collective balance over the past nine weeks. The current figure of 17.41 million ETH marks a fresh peak for that metric this year. These big wallets now control more than a fifth of the entire supply, a concentration that typically signals conviction rather than short-term trading.
Ethereum's settlement narrative
The accumulation comes as Ethereum's role as the primary settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets gains traction. Capital markets are increasingly looking for neutral, credible infrastructure to settle transactions for everything from Treasuries to private credit. That structural demand is a key reason analysts point to when explaining why big holders are willing to buy during price weakness.
What the analyst sees
Crypto analyst Lucky, who tracks whale behavior, described the current accumulation pattern as a strong bullish setup for ETH. The buying during dips by the largest holders, he noted, is the kind of behavior historically seen ahead of extended rallies. No specific price target was given, but the volume of coins moving into these addresses suggests a long-term thesis rather than a quick flip.
The next question is whether this whale conviction can spread to retail and smaller institutions — and whether Ethereum's RWA momentum will keep fueling demand. For now, the big money is voting with its balance sheet.
