Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Chairman Thomas 'Tom' Lee, has purchased an additional 101,901 ether tokens, 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 a digital asset treasury firm. Lee noted, 'The crossing of 5 million ether tokens marks a significant milestone in our pursuit of acquiring 5% of the ether supply.' The recent purchase, valued at around $236 million, continues the company's trend of larger weekly purchases, while most digital asset treasuries remain inactive. The firm'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.
Approximately 3.7 million ether tokens, or 73% of its holdings, are currently staked, generating around $264 million in annualized revenue. Lee views ether as evolving beyond a speculative asset, citing its growing role as a 'store of value' and collateral in financial transactions.
He also highlighted ether's outperformance of the S&P 500 since the start of the Iran conflict and its increasing use cases in tokenization and AI systems as a long-term driver for the asset.