Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Tom Lee, has acquired an additional 101,901 ether, bringing its total holdings to over 5 million tokens, equivalent to approximately 4.21% of the circulating ether supply. This milestone was achieved in roughly 10 months, following the company's strategic shift from bitcoin mining to digital asset treasury management.
According to Lee, 'Bitmine's ether holdings have surpassed the 5 million mark, marking a significant step towards our goal of acquiring 5% of the ether supply.' The recent purchase, valued at around $236 million, continues the company's trend of making larger weekly purchases while most digital asset treasuries remain inactive. With total crypto and cash holdings of $13.3 billion, the firm also holds 200 bitcoin, $940 million in cash, and equity stakes in various companies.
Approximately 3.7 million ether tokens, or 73% of its holdings, are currently staked, generating around $264 million in annualized revenue. Lee has repositioned ether as a 'wartime store of value,' citing its growing use as collateral in financial transactions and its outperformance of the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict. He also highlighted the increasing adoption of public blockchains in tokenization and AI systems as a long-term driver for the asset.