Breaking: Tom Lee’s Bitmine Acquires 40,302 ETH as Whales Double Down On Ethereum

Bitmine disclosed a fresh increase in its Ethereum holdings during the final week of January. The update adds to a series of recent disclosures tied to large Ethereum positions held by institutions and corporate entities.

Bitmine Expands Ethereum Treasury to $12.8 Billion

According to a recent press release, digital asset company Bitmine, which Tom Lee chairs, increased its exposure to Ethereum after buying 40,302 ETH last week. The firm said it had $12.8 billion in combined cryptocurrency and cash holdings as of January 25.

This announcement comes just a week after BitMine announced that it acquired 35,268 ETH. It now holds 4.2 million ETH, alongside 193 Bitcoin, and has $682 million in cash on hand. The company’s ETH holdings account for roughly 3.52% of total circulation. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that its total staked ETH stands at just over 2 million. 

“BitMine has staked more ETH than other entities in the world,” Tom Lee said. “At scale (when BitMine’s ETH is fully staked by MAVAN and its staking partners), the ETH staking fee is $374 million annually (using 2.81% CESR), or greater than $1 million per day.”

The company also revealed its strategic equity aside from digital assets. It has a $200 million interest in Beast Industries and $19 million set aside for moonshot investments. CoinGape had reported BitMine’s $200 million investment in MrBeast’s company, which Tom Lee explained was part of plans to boost ETH’s mainstream adoption. 

BMNR Stock Slips as Whale Ethereum Accumulation Continues

However, despite the magnitude of the purchases, the stock of Bitmine declined after the announcement. Data from Yahoo Finance shows that the company’s stock, BMNR, is trading around $28.52. The crypto stock is down amid the decline in the crypto market, led by Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Ethereum remains under selling pressure after failing to defend the key $3,000 support level. The asset is currently priced at $2,900 and has decreased in the past day. The largest altcoin by market cap has also erased all its year-to-date (YTD) gains and is now down over 2% YTD.

Amid the decline, there has been a notable increase in Ethereum whales’ accumulation. In an X post, Onchain Lens revealed that a new wallet purchased 61,000 ETH, valued at $171.15 million, from Binance. Another whale bought 20,000 ETH from Wintermute. The second whale currently owns 100,130 ETH, which is valued at $283.79 million.

As CoinGape reported earlier, the institutional shifts in the market were not limited to Bitmine. World Liberty Financial offloaded over $8 million in Wrapped Bitcoin for 2,868.4 ETH, at an average price of $2,813. The transaction was among the larger cryptocurrency movements in the market in the last few months.