Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Tom Lee, has purchased an additional 101,901 ether, bringing its total holdings to over 5 million tokens. This represents approximately 4.21% of ether's circulating supply.
The firm has achieved this milestone in roughly 10 months, following its transition from a bitcoin miner to a digital asset treasury strategy company in June. Lee noted that 'Bitmine's ETH holdings have surpassed 5 million, marking a significant milestone as we strive to acquire 5% of the ETH supply.' The recent purchase, valued at around $236 million, continues the company's trend of larger weekly purchases, while most digital asset treasuries remain inactive. Bitmine's total crypto and cash holdings now stand at $13.3 billion, comprising its ETH position, 200 bitcoin, $940 million in cash, and equity stakes in various companies.
The firm has also expanded its staking operations, with approximately 3.7 million tokens, or 73% of its holdings, now staked, generating around $264 million in annualized revenue. Lee views ether as a 'wartime store of value,' citing its increasing use as collateral in financial transactions and its outperformance of the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict.
He believes ether's growing use cases, such as tokenization and AI systems, will drive its long-term growth.