TLDR:
- BitMine acquired 45,759 ETH in one week, bringing total holdings to 4,371,497 ETH worth $8.7 billion.
- Tom Lee compares current crypto sentiment to 2018 and 2022 lows, calling the pullback a buying opportunity.
- BitMine’s staked ETH of 3.04 million tokens generates $176M annually at a 7-day yield of 2.89%.
- MAVAN, BitMine’s proprietary staking validator network, is set to launch in early 2026 with three partners.
Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE AMERICAN: BMNR) purchased 45,759 ETH in a single week, pushing total holdings to 4,371,497 tokens.
The move comes as Lee publicly identifies what he calls bottom-like sentiment across crypto markets. Combined with cash and other investments, Bitmine’s total holdings now stand at $9.6 billion, reinforcing its position as the world’s largest Ethereum treasury.
Lee Calls Market Sentiment a Buy Signal
Tom Lee drew a direct comparison between today’s crypto market and the lows of 2018 and 2022. He described current investor mood as carrying the same weight as previous cycle bottoms. Unlike past downturns, however, no major institutional failures have triggered the current weakness.
Lee pointed to a specific turning point, stating that “crypto has remained weak since the ‘price shock’ and massive deleveraging seen on October 10th.”
He noted that 2025 and 2026 have not produced the large-scale debacles seen in prior cycles, such as the FTX collapse or Three Arrows Capital in 2022. The current softness, in his view, is a sentiment-driven correction rather than a structural breakdown.
At Consensus Hong Kong, Lee outlined three long-term growth drivers for Ethereum, covering Wall Street tokenization, AI agent payment infrastructure, and creator-focused Layer 2 standards.
He argued that “Ethereum is well positioned to garner significant share, given its neutrality and 100% uptime and reliability.” These themes dominated panel discussions throughout the conference, reinforcing his conviction.
On the company’s buying strategy, Lee was direct: “We cannot control the price of Ethereum, and the company is acquiring ETH regardless of price trend, as the long-term outlook for Ethereum remains outstanding.”
He added that Bitmine continues to “buy ETH even as crypto moves through this ‘mini-winter,’” framing the pullback as an accumulation window rather than a warning sign.
Staking Machine Running as MAVAN Nears Launch
Beyond accumulation, Bitmine is generating meaningful revenue from its existing ETH stack. Total staked ETH now stands at 3,040,483 tokens, valued at roughly $6.1 billion at current prices. Annualized staking revenues have climbed to $176 million, based on a 7-day yield of 2.89%.
Lee noted that “at scale, when Bitmine’s ETH is fully staked by MAVAN and its staking partners, the ETH staking rewards is $252 million annually.”
The company is currently working with three staking providers as it prepares to deploy MAVAN, its proprietary Made in America Validator Network. The solution is expected to launch in early 2026 as a best-in-class staking infrastructure platform.
Bitmine’s total holdings also include 193 Bitcoin, $670 million in cash, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, and a $17 million position in Eightco Holdings.
The company ranks 158th among all US-listed stocks by average daily dollar volume, trading approximately $0.9 billion per day. Institutional backers include ARK’s Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera, Galaxy Digital, and Kraken.
