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Bitmine is going to stop buying. ETF outflows have continued for 9 consecutive days. ETH has dropped to around $2500, and the market is in a state of wailing. Everyone is asking the same question: who will take over the position? But this question might have been asked wrong from the very beginning. Bitmine's holdings have reached 6.016 million ETH, accounting for 4.9% of the total supply, with less than 100,000 ETH left before hitting the 5% hard cap. Tom Lee personally said that they will stop buying once they reach 5%, and will not buy anymore. The situation with ETFs is even worse. The ETH spot ETF has had net outflows for 9 consecutive trading days, with a cumulative outflow of $635 million since October. BlackRock's ETHA is the hardest hit, with a single-day maximum outflow of $202 million. What about the price? ETH is now fluctuating around $2500. The RSI is at a weak 44.6, and the trend indeed looks unfavorable. These are all facts, no denial. In the past year or so, Bitmine alone has absorbed 70% of the newly issued ETH. About 2,980 new ETH are issued daily, of which approximately 72% are bought by this single company. What does this mean? The supply side of ETH has become highly dependent on the presence of one buyer. And now this buyer is stopping—shifting from absorbing 70% of new weekly supply to possibly becoming a seller releasing a small amount of staking rewards. Sounds scary, right? But think about it the other way: if an asset always needs a big buyer to "support" the price, then it is inherently fragile. Bitmine stopping actually forces ETH to prove one thing—it doesn't need to rely on a treasury company to survive. A more critical detail: structural changes are brewing on the supply side. The community is indeed discussing EIP-8363—proposing to reduce the annual issuance by about 58.6% under the current staking amount of approximately 42.2 million ETH, lowering the staking annual yield by about 56.4%, with an 18-month transition period. Although this proposal has been withdrawn from the Hegota upgrade, it may be reintroduced through a dedicated consensus process in the future. But the direction is clear: the Ethereum community is seriously discussing "how to make ETH a deflationary asset again." Currently, ETH's net daily increase is about 2,980, with an annual inflation rate of about 0.86%. If the issuance reduction proposal is implemented in any form, ETH will shift from "net issuance" back to "quasi-deflationary." Bitmine's stop in buying happens just on the eve of this turning point. There is another overlooked signal: restraint itself is value. Tom Lee chose to stop at 5%, rather than using influence to accumulate indefinitely. An institution can be the largest participant but should not try to dominate the entire network. This is not weakness; it is respect for the ecosystem's health. Imagine what would happen if one entity held more than 10% of ETH—that would no longer be Ethereum but the "Bitmine chain." True long-term investors know where to stop. The real variable is not "who will take over Bitmine's position." It is: has Ethereum's narrative changed? Tom Lee's core logic has never been "treasury companies hoarding coins," but tokenization—BlackRock, JPMorgan, and other traditional institutions will build on Ethereum, with on-chain asset scale penetrating from $3-4 trillion toward the $200 trillion traditional capital pool. If this trend holds, ETH's demand source will shift from "treasury companies buying up" to "real demand generated by on-chain economic activity." That is a completely different demand curve—slower but more sustainable. When expectations are extremely low, the direction is often upward. Data shows traders believe the probability of ETH reaching $5000 by year-end is only 4%. 4%. When no one believes, any marginal improvement can become a catalyst. ETF outflows are nearing an end, Bitmine stopping has been fully priced in, issuance reduction discussions are advancing, and tokenization infrastructure is being built. Pessimism is maxed out. There are only two possibilities next: either more pessimism or a turnaround. Bitmine stopping buying is a fact. But if you are bearish on the entire asset just because one buyer is exiting, then you are betting that "Ethereum has only one buyer." That is clearly not true. ETFs are flowing out, but ETFs have never been the only source of ETH demand. Treasury companies are stopping, but the big trend of tokenization is just beginning. The market is betting on one buyer leaving, while Ethereum is betting on the arrival of an entire era. $BTC $ETH $STRK