Publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies added 111,942 ETH, valued at approximately $237 million, to its balance sheet last week, marking the firm's largest ETH-denominated purchase of 2026. The acquisition brings BitMine's total holdings to 5,390,404 ETH, valued around $11.4 billion as Ethereum trades near $2,117. BitMine now holds more than 4.4% of the circulating ETH token supply and is 88% of the way toward its stated goal of acquiring 5% of the circulating supply—a milestone the firm anticipates achieving "sometime in 2026," according to Chairman Tom Lee. The purchase reflects BitMine's view of current Ethereum prices as an attractive entry point, following Lee's earlier indication that the firm would moderate its acquisition pace to avoid reaching the 5% target too quickly.
Purchase Rationale
Tom Lee stated in a recent announcement: "We continue to expect a supercycle ahead for crypto and Ethereum, driven by the dual drivers of Wall Street tokenization and agentic-AI. And thus, we continue to steadily acquire ETH, with BitMine now owning nearly 5.4 million ETH tokens." Lee previously signaled the firm would slow its Ethereum purchase velocity; however, with ETH trading below $2,200, the firm determined this represented an attractive opportunity to add to its position.
Staking Operations and Revenue
Of BitMine's 5.39 million ETH holdings, more than 4.7 million ETH—valued at almost $10 billion—is being staked via the firm's industrial staking platform, the Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN). Based on current staking numbers, BitMine anticipates annualized staking revenues exceeding $276 million.
Stock Performance
Shares of BitMine (BMNR) have increased approximately 3.3% since market opening, trading recently at $19.51. At that price level, shares have declined nearly 12% over the past month and more than 38% over the past six months.
Russell 1000 Index Inclusion
BitMine expects a liquidity injection next month as it gains inclusion in the Russell 1000 index, which tracks the 1,000 largest companies in the United States. Ahead of this inclusion, Lee indicated that passive index funds and ETFs may generate a wave of automated demand for BMNR shares.
Ethereum Market Context
Ethereum has declined 2% in the last 24 hours to trade around $2,078. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has fallen more than 11% over the past month and remains approximately 58% below its August all-time high of $4,946.
