Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Tom Lee, has made a significant purchase of 101,901 ETH, bringing its total holdings to over 5 million tokens, approximately 4.21% of the circulating ether supply. This milestone was achieved in roughly 10 months, following the company's shift from a bitcoin miner to a digital asset treasury strategy firm in June.
Lee noted, 'Bitmine's ETH holdings have surpassed 5 million, marking a major milestone as we strive to acquire 5% of the ETH supply.' The recent purchase, valued at around $236 million at current ETH prices, continues the company's trend of making larger weekly purchases while most digital asset treasuries remain inactive. The firm's total crypto and cash holdings now stand at $13.3 billion, including its ETH position, 200 bitcoin, $940 million in cash, and equity stakes in various companies. Additionally, Bitmine has 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 emphasized ether's evolving role, citing research by Etherealize, which suggests that ETH is increasingly being viewed as a 'store of value' and collateral, given its growing use in financial transactions. He also highlighted ETH's outperformance of the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict and its potential long-term growth driven by tokenization and AI systems relying on public blockchains.