On Tuesday, publicly traded Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury, BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR), disclosed the purchase of 67,111 ETH for roughly $145 million. This marks the company’s largest purchase of the year and has lifted its total holdings to more than 4.6 million ETH, valued at nearly $10 billion.
Bitmine, led by Fundstrat CEO Tom Lee, has leaned heavily into the market downturn to continue accumulating Ether as prices slumped. The company, which pivoted from Bitcoin mining to ETH treasury management under Lee’s leadership, has increased its buying pace over the past three weeks.
Tom Lee’s BitMine Makes Largest Weekly Ether Purchase of the Year
According to data from the on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, Bitmine purchased 67,111 ETH from the Kraken exchange via two addresses. The company said in its Monday disclosure that it had acquired 65,341 ETH since the last update on March 16.
Lee added in a statement that he believes the current “crypto winter” may be close to coming to an end. He also pointed to policy and market signals that support a better outlook for the crypto economy. He attributed this to progress made on the CLARITY Act market structure bill in the United States and the way bitcoin, ether, and other digital assets have held up during recent geopolitical stress – the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
Its current stack of 4.66 million ETH represents around 3.86% of Ether’s current circulating supply of 120.69 million coins. The company has said it wants to acquire and stake 5% of the total supply. However, to reach that goal, Bitmine would still need to buy roughly 1.37 million more ETH, and at current prices, that would amount to nearly $3 billion.
Since ether’s supply is not fixed, the total can rise or fall depending on issuance and token burning; the amount needed to reach Bitmine’s goal of controlling 5% of the supply can change over time.
The company also said that it has staked more than 3 million ETH ($6.49 billion), indicating that it is not only building an ether treasury position but also using the assets to support Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) ecosystem. The goal of the “Alchemy of 5%” strategy, as Lee calls it, is to amass roughly 6 million ETH ($12.98 billion), stake it aggressively through Bitmine’s forthcoming Made in America Validator Network (MAVN) to generate reliable, protocol-level yield for shareholders.
Bitmine remains the largest known Ether treasury holder, followed by SharpLink Gaming with about 863,021 and The Ether Machine with around 496,712 ETH, according to StrategicETHReserve data.
BitMine sits on Unrealized Loss of $7 Billion as ETH Price Falls 27% YTD
The company’s timing has been opportunistic, as ETH is down roughly 27% year-to-date, trading near recent lows around $2,163 after peaking near its all-time high of $4,950 last August. That price pullback has made every acquisition since cheaper, accelerating its progress toward the goal of controlling 5% of the Ethereum supply.
However, BitMine is currently sitting on an unrealized loss of $7 billion on its ETH position. Meanwhile, BNMR stock has declined 33% this year and 60% over the past six months.
The digital asset treasury giant also reported other holdings on its balance sheet, including about $1.1 billion in cash, 196 BTC ($13.92 million), a $200 million stake in YouTuber Mr. Beast’s Beast Industries, and a $95 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) closed Tuesday’s session at $20.8 – down 2.21% on the day.
At the time of writing, Ether (ETH) is trading at $2,170 – up 1.88% in 24 hours.
