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 price of Ethereum (ETH) had risen by 7.46%, 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.

Ethereum vs BMNR stock price correlation chart highlighting Tom Lee's 'Face Ripper' tweet, Source:TradingView

How U.S. inflation (which came in worse than expected) taught short sellers a harsh lesson

The catalyst behind such a sharp move in the cryptocurrency market was the release of the August U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI). 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 (BMNR), 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.