Bitmine Buys 71,179 ETH, Now Holds 3.92% of Ethereum Supply

Bitmine has purchased an additional 71,179 ETH, expanding its already substantial Ethereum position and bringing its total crypto and cash holdings to approximately $10.7 billion, according to a report from The Block.

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The company now owns roughly 3.92% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, making it one of the single largest institutional holders of the asset.

The acquisition follows a pattern of aggressive accumulation by Bitmine, which has positioned itself as a corporate treasury vehicle for Ethereum in a similar way that MicroStrategy (now Strategy) pioneered for Bitcoin. The scale of the latest purchase — over 71,000 ETH in a single tranche — signals a level of institutional conviction in Ethereum that few public companies have demonstrated to date.

Bitmine’s Crypto and Cash Portfolio

Bitmine’s holdings now include:

• 4,732,082 ETH (~$9.8B at current prices)

• 3,142,643 ETH staked, generating $177M annualized revenue

• 197 BTC (~$13.4M)

• $102M stake in Eightco Holdings

• $961M cash

The company’s Ethereum stake alone represents nearly 4% of circulating supply (~120.7M ETH), putting Bitmine in a position of influence typically reserved for early ecosystem participants and blockchain foundations. This concentration is notable in a proof-of-stake system, where staked ETH translates to validator influence and affects market liquidity.

For context, the largest Ethereum spot ETFs in the U.S. collectively hold billions of ETH, but assets are spread across multiple custodians. Bitmine’s centralized approach — one corporate treasury controlling such a significant portion of supply — is unprecedented.

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Tom Lee: Crypto as a “Wartime Store of Value”

The latest ETH purchase comes alongside commentary from Bitmine Chair Tom Lee, who described crypto as a “good wartime store of value” amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

“As the Iran war enters its 5th week, ETH and crypto outperformed the broader market with ETH outperforming equities by 1,160 basis points. This is a marked contrast to Gold, which has underperformed by more than 750 basis points. Crypto is demonstrating itself to be a good ‘war time’ store of value,” Lee said.

Lee framed this as an extension of the traditional “digital gold” thesis, suggesting that in times of geopolitical stress, permissionless digital assets offer a distinct hedging value beyond inflation protection. Historically, Bitcoin and Ethereum have shown mixed correlations with geopolitical events, making this narrative both timely and contested.

Extending the Corporate Treasury Model to Ethereum

Bitmine’s strategy mirrors the corporate Bitcoin treasury model popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which began accumulating Bitcoin in 2020. The difference is that Bitmine is focusing on Ethereum, which provides:

• Staking yield from protocol-level rewards

• Utility as the base layer for decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contracts

• Exposure to the broader on-chain economy

With 66% of its ETH holdings staked, Bitmine is already earning substantial yield on its treasury. At current rates, the staked ETH adds thousands of ETH annually, compounding its total position.

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Bitmine’s strategy represents one of the clearest tests yet of whether the corporate treasury model can extend beyond Bitcoin into the broader crypto ecosystem. How the market and regulators respond will likely influence institutional crypto allocation strategies for years to come.