Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Tom Lee, has purchased 101,901 ETH, increasing 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 strategic shift from bitcoin mining to digital asset treasury management. Lee stated, 'Bitmine's ETH holdings have surpassed 5 million, marking a significant milestone in our pursuit of acquiring 5% of the ETH supply.' The recent purchase, valued at around $236 million, reflects the company's ongoing expansion of its ETH position, while many digital asset treasuries remain inactive.
Bitmine's total crypto and cash holdings now stand at $13.3 billion, including 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 emphasized ether's evolving role, citing research by Etherealize, which suggests ETH is increasingly being viewed as a 'store of value' and collateral in financial transactions, outperforming the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict, with growing use cases such as tokenization and AI systems relying on public blockchains.