Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has signaled a slowdown in its ETH purchases after its holdings approached 5% of the total supply. Chairman Thomas Lee disclosed in a July letter that the company now holds 5.7 million ETH, representing about 4.8% of circulating supply, and will treat the 5% level as a de facto ceiling.
Strategic Pivot to Staking and Investments
Lee argued that concentrating holdings further during the Ethereum Foundation's transitional period would be unwise. Instead, Bitmine will redirect capital toward staking, infrastructure investments, and equity stakes in financial services firms to enhance the value of its ETH holdings. The company reported $45.7 million in staking-related revenue in the most recent quarter.
Funding Structure and Market Positioning
Bitmine has issued perpetual preferred stock "BMNP" with a 9.5% annual yield, modeled after Strategy's (formerly MicroStrategy) preferred shares. A planned move to the New York Stock Exchange and inclusion in the Russell 1000 index are expected to broaden its investor base. Lee also outlined a bullish scenario where tokenized finance and AI agent adoption drive ETH demand, citing price estimates ranging from $25,000 to as high as $250,000. With purchases slowing, the key challenge now is generating returns from the existing asset base.