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 recent acquisition, valued at approximately $236 million, has increased the firm's ether treasury to 5,078,386 tokens, equivalent to around 4.21% of the circulating supply. Notably, Bitmine has achieved this milestone in roughly 10 months since shifting its focus from bitcoin mining to a digital asset treasury strategy in June.
Tom Lee stated, 'The company has surpassed 5 million ether, marking a significant milestone in our pursuit of acquiring 5% of the ether supply.' The latest purchase extends the company's streak of substantial weekly acquisitions, as most digital asset treasuries remain inactive. Bitmine's total crypto and cash holdings now stand at $13.3 billion, comprising its ether 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. Tom Lee emphasized ether's evolving role, citing research by Etherealize, which suggests that ether is increasingly being viewed as a 'store of value' and collateral, particularly as digital assets gain traction in financial transactions. Lee also highlighted ether's outperformance of the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict and its growing use cases, such as tokenization and AI systems, as a long-term driver for the asset.