Bitmine Immersion Technologies has expanded its Ether holdings to 5.54 million ETH after acquiring nearly 127,000 tokens over the past week, bringing its treasury to 4.59% of Ethereum's total supply.
The company says it has now reached 92% of its stated goal of acquiring 5% of Ethereum's total supply, a strategy it calls the “Alchemy of 5%.” About 85% of its holdings-4.72 million ETH-are currently staked through validator infrastructure, worth roughly $7.7 billion at current prices.
Bitmine projects $230 million in annualized staking revenue from its current stake, with potential rewards rising to $270 million if all holdings are fully staked through partners like MAVAN.
Despite a broader crypto market pullback, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee says advances in artificial intelligence could drive demand for public blockchains such as Ethereum, which he called a "reliable decentralized" blockchain.
As of June 7, Bitmine held 5,543,872 ETH and 204 Bitcoin, along with $247 million in cash and equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings. According to CoinGecko, Bitmine ranks as the largest Ether treasury company among 32 tracked public entities, holding more than six times the ETH of second-ranked SharpLink.
Bitmine shares rose more than 6% on Monday following the announcement, though the stock remains down about 38% year-to-date, with a market cap of roughly $9.59 billion.
Ethereum's native token, Ether, continues to face pressure. CoinGecko data shows ETH is down more than 43% year-to-date, trading around $1,685 on Monday, down from above $3,000 in January.
In May, the Ethereum Foundation sold 20,000 ETH through two over-the-counter transactions worth about $46.8 million, following an earlier 5,000 ETH sale in March. The foundation has sold 25,000 ETH in total this year.
The weak price has prompted some long-time Ethereum supporters to reassess. In May, Bankless co-founder David Hoffman sold the remainder of his Ether holdings, arguing the "ETH is Money" thesis has largely played out. He remains bullish on the network but believes much of its future growth may not be captured by the token itself.