Ethereum (ETH) on the Verge of 'Face Ripper' Rally, Predicts World's Largest Corporate Holder

By the end of the working week on September 11, the , reaching $2,619.0 and demonstrating strong upward momentum. Over the week as a whole, the asset gained 6.62%.Commenting on the surge, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee described the current momentum as the beginning of a massive "face-ripper rally" for short sellers.For Lee, this forecast has direct financial significance: the company he oversees is officially the world's largest corporate holder of Ethereum.CAPITALCOM:BMNR on TradingView in September 2026." width="2753" height="1397" ">How U.S. inflation (which came in worse than expected) taught short sellers a harsh lessonThe catalyst behind such a sharp move in the cryptocurrency market was the release of the August U.S. Consumer Price Index . Although annual inflation fully matched expectations at 3.4%, the Core CPI rose by 0.3% month over month, slightly exceeding forecasts.The data caused brief market fluctuations and a jump in Treasury yields, after which markets quickly turned higher. According to Fundstrat, investors had adopted extremely defensive positions ahead of the release. As a result, the relatively "harmless" data triggered a massive return of capital sitting in cash to risk assets, fueling a wave of forced short-position liquidations.This capitulation by market bears benefits Bitmine Immersion Technologies , a former mining company whose board Tom Lee has chaired since the summer of 2025.The company is now actively implementing his "alchemy of 5%" strategy and buying the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization every week. By September 2026, Bitmine had accumulated 5.9 million ETH on its balance sheet, representing approximately 4.9% of the global supply, and had placed most of the coins into staking to generate yield.By methodically buying coins every week, Lee has effectively put the market in a vise: while skeptics waited out the inflation data in fiat, Bitmine captured a key share of the supply, turning this price reversal into a harsh lesson for short sellers.