Bitmine Immersion Technologies increased its Ether holdings to 5.54 million ETH after acquiring nearly 127,000 tokens over the past week, bringing its treasury to 4.59% of Ethereum’s total supply.
The company said it has now reached 92% of its stated goal of acquiring 5% of Ethereum’s total supply, a strategy it calls the “Alchemy of 5%.” It added that 4.72 million ETH (ETH), or about 85% of its holdings, are currently staked through validator infrastructure, worth roughly $7.7 billion at current prices.
Bitmine projected $230 million in annualized staking revenue from its current staked ETH position, with rewards potentially rising to $270 million if its holdings are fully staked through MAVAN and other staking partners.
Despite the broader crypto market pullback, Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said advances in artificial intelligence could increase demand for public blockchains such as Ethereum (ETH), which he described as a “reliable decentralized” blockchain.
The global crypto market cap stands at $2.19 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data at time of publication. That’s down from $2.69 trillion on May 9.
As of Sunday, Bitmine held 5,543,872 ETH and 204 Bitcoin (BTC), along with $247 million in cash and equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.
According to CoinGecko data, Bitmine ranks as the largest Ether treasury company among 32 public entities tracked by the platform. Its 5.54 million ETH holdings are more than six times larger than those of second-ranked SharpLink, which holds 868,699 ETH.
Top Ethereum treasury companies. Source: CoinGecko
Bitmine shares rose more than 6% on Monday following the announcement, though the stock remains down around 38% year-to-date, according to Yahoo Finance data. The company had a market capitalization of about $9.59 billion.
Source: Yahoo Finance
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Ether faces pressure despite Bitmine’s continued accumulation
It has been a difficult year for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, even as Bitmine aggressively expands its treasury. CoinGecko data shows ETH is down more than 43% year-to-date, falling from above $3,000 in January to about $1,685 on Monday.
Source: CoinGecko
Some large holders have reduced their exposure during the downturn. In May, the Ethereum Foundation sold 20,000 ETH through two over-the-counter transactions worth about $46.8 million combined. The sales followed an earlier 5,000 ETH deal in March, bringing the foundation’s total ETH sold this year to 25,000 ETH.
The cryptocurrency’s weak price performance has also prompted some long-time Ethereum supporters to reassess their investment outlook. In May, Bankless co-founder David Hoffman said he had sold the remainder of his Ether holdings, arguing that the long-standing “ETH is Money” thesis had largely played out.
Hoffman said he remains bullish on Ethereum as a network but believes much of its future growth may not be reflected in the token itself. He said that layer-2 networks and other ecosystem participants capture a significant share of the economic value generated on the blockchain.
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