BitMine Immersion Technologies is approaching a self-imposed goal of owning 5% of Ethereum’s supply after building a position of roughly 5.82 million ETH over about 14 months, according to company disclosures. Based on an estimated 120.7 million ETH outstanding, the holding represents close to 4.9% of the network’s supply and places BitMine among the largest known corporate Ethereum holders.
The company reported approximately 5.8476 million ETH in an Aug. 23 update, equal to about 4.8% of supply. BitMine chairman Tom Lee said the remaining distance to its 5% target was around 200,000 ETH, though the reported holdings imply the gap could be closer to 187,000 ETH if Ethereum supply remains near 120.7 million.
BitMine set the target on June 30, 2025, and has accumulated ETH through weekly purchases for more than 60 consecutive weeks, Lee said. The approach differs from companies that have used convertible debt to build cryptocurrency treasuries. Lee said BitMine funded its ETH purchases through equity issuance and did not use convertible notes.
That financing choice leaves BitMine’s capital structure tied more directly to share issuance, preferred shares and ETH market performance than to fixed debt repayments. It also means existing shareholders could face dilution as the company raises capital, even as the strategy seeks to increase the amount of ETH backing each share over time.
Staking income narrows the path to 5%
More than 5 million ETH from BitMine’s holdings has been deployed in staking through its Maven platform and external partners, according to Lee. At an annualized staking yield of roughly 2.6% to 2.7%, that amount would generate about 120,000 ETH a year.
Lee described the staking output as a meaningful contributor toward BitMine’s ownership target. If annual rewards produce about 120,000 ETH and the remaining gap is roughly 200,000 ETH, the company would need to acquire about 80,000 ETH through market purchases or structured transactions to reach its stated threshold.
The estimate places the value of BitMine’s annual staking income at around $300 million, based on the company’s discussion. Staking rewards are paid in ETH, so the dollar value of that income will move with the token’s market price. A decline in ETH would reduce the dollar value of rewards, while a sustained increase would strengthen the cash-equivalent value of the company’s accumulating token balance.
The scale of BitMine’s staking activity also intersects with a broader constraint on Ethereum’s tradable supply. The supplied figures place roughly 39.7 million ETH in active deposit contracts, representing nearly 32% of total supply. Those coins remain committed to Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system rather than being immediately available for trading, although validators can eventually withdraw staked ETH under the network’s withdrawal rules.
BitMine’s own 5 million-plus staked ETH represents a substantial portion of that locked supply. The company is effectively combining a treasury strategy with a validator-income operation: ETH is held for potential appreciation while also generating protocol rewards. That structure gives BitMine an internal source of additional ETH without requiring every token to be purchased on the open market.
Preferred shares add a second capital source
Alongside equity issuance, BitMine has used a perpetual preferred share called BMNP as another financing channel. The security carries a 9.5% dividend, was priced at $80 in its offering and traded near $91 during the period referenced by Lee. Demand was described as five times the deal size.
Perpetual preferred stock generally has no scheduled maturity date, allowing an issuer to raise capital without a fixed repayment deadline. In exchange, the company takes on recurring dividend obligations that rank ahead of common-share distributions. BitMine estimated annual dividend payments tied to the preferred shares at about $30 million to $35 million.
The company has not described plans to sell ETH to meet those obligations. Instead, Lee framed the preferred issuance, staking rewards, equity sales and capital allocation decisions as parts of a strategy designed to preserve Ethereum exposure while financing the treasury.
That approach depends on the relationship between staking income, dividend costs and ETH prices. Based on BitMine’s stated figures, the projected annual staking income is far larger than the estimated preferred dividend burden in dollar terms. The comparison is sensitive to ETH’s price and to any changes in staking yields, while preferred dividends remain a contractual cash obligation.
Structured ETH purchases and buybacks
BitMine has also directed cash during the past five weeks toward both ETH purchases and share buybacks. Lee said the company used structured transactions to acquire ETH at discounts to spot prices, without detailing the counterparties or mechanics of those arrangements.
Buying ETH below prevailing market prices could improve the average cost of BitMine’s treasury if the transactions are executed as described. Share repurchases, meanwhile, can reduce the number of common shares outstanding, potentially changing how much ETH is attributable to each remaining share. Running both programs at once creates a capital-allocation tradeoff: cash used to repurchase stock is not available for direct ETH accumulation, while cash used for ETH expands the treasury but can leave the share count unchanged.
Lee has used Ethereum price scenarios to illustrate the potential upside of the strategy, citing $5,000 and $10,000 ETH over a one-to-two-year horizon. He also mentioned a separate $15,000 reference point connected to an ETH-to-Bitcoin “flippening” framework, in which Ethereum’s market capitalization would surpass Bitcoin’s.
Those scenarios are projections rather than company guidance. Lee also discussed an illustration in which BitMine shares could rise roughly tenfold to around $180 under a favorable ETH-price outcome. The company’s disclosures acknowledge Lee’s roles at Fundstrat Global Advisors and Fundstrat Capital, including involvement with the GRNY ETF, as well as his financial exposure to ETH and related instruments.
Ethereum Foundation-linked projects receive backing
Beyond its treasury and staking operations, BitMine has supplied seed funding as the main backer for three entities spun out from the Ethereum Foundation: EthLabs, EthSystems and EthInstitutional. The company also said Maven has attracted more than $2 billion in external client assets alongside its own staking activity.
The combination of a large ETH treasury, validator operations and funding ties to Ethereum-focused entities gives BitMine a position that extends beyond passive token ownership. Its ability to continue accumulating ETH will depend on access to capital, the performance of its preferred-share financing, the reliability of staking yields and the market value of the token it is seeking to own at scale.
Curious how ETH whales operate? Deepen your understanding with Toobit Academy’s guide on Ethereum Pectra Upgrade 2025 and future network economics.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
