Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Tom Lee, has purchased 101,901 ether tokens, bringing its total holdings to over 5 million tokens, approximately 4.21% of the circulating supply. This significant milestone was achieved in roughly 10 months, following the company's shift from a bitcoin miner to a digital asset treasury strategy company. Lee stated, 'Bitmine's ETH holdings have surpassed 5 million, marking a major milestone in our pursuit of acquiring 5% of the ETH supply.' The recent purchase, valued at approximately $236 million, demonstrates the company's continued accumulation of ether, while most digital asset treasuries remain inactive.
Bitmine'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. The company has also expanded its staking operations, with around 3.7 million tokens, roughly 73% of its holdings, now staked, generating approximately $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, particularly in financial transactions.
He also highlighted ETH'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. According to Lee, 'ETH has become the best 'war-time store of value' and has led the way since the war started, demonstrating its significant potential.'