Bitmine is betting that Ethereum becomes the world’s settlement layer—and it’s building one of the largest ETH treasuries in history to prove it. So you’ve probably seen him on crypto news lately. He wears a suit, has thick-rimmed glasses, and makes extremely bold predictions. He’s calling for Bitcoin to hit 200k by the end of 2026 and for Ethereum to reach 12k. If this rings a bell, you’ve likely come across Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies. Today, we’re unpacking why the community is calling Bitmine the MicroStrategy of Ethereum—and their massive plan to accumulate 5% of all ETH. This is the AthenaX Whitepaper. Strictly educational, not financial advice.
“Bitmine isn’t buying Ethereum for speculation—it’s buying the future settlement layer of global finance.”
So last week, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a NASDAQ-listed company, acquired $195 million in Ethereum, adding to what has become one of the fastest ETH accumulation sprees in history. They’ve bought over $3.5 million ETH, having started just four months ago, in July. Their treasury is now worth slightly north of $11 billion. With those tokens, they currently own about 3% of the total Ethereum supply. And this raises three big questions:
What’s their economic model?
What are they doing with all of that ETH?
What’s on their roadmap?
At the front of Bitmine is Tom Lee, a Wall Street veteran who previously worked at JPMorgan Chase as head of equity for seven years. In 2014, he left to start his own financial research boutique called Fundstrat. He rose to fame in 2017 after predicting that Bitcoin would hit 55k in 2022, which it eventually did. Since then, he’s doubled down as one of crypto’s most famous permabulls. His recent predictions, though, have been a bit spotty—but who doesn’t love an internet personality? He’s fully doxxed and leads Bitmine’s treasury strategy. The rest of the team is also doxxed, mostly ex-Wall Street professionals with experience in cross-border finance, dealing with family offices in Asia and the U.S. One can assume they’re connected to liquidity and know how to use it.
Bitmine’s entire play rests on one key belief: That Ethereum will become the default blockchain for global stablecoin payments. Combine that with regulatory tailwinds like the GENIUS Act, and the thesis becomes simple. When stablecoins go mainstream, these payments will run on Ethereum. The gas consumption required to process them will explode. And that scales Ethereum prices upward. Higher ETH prices turn Ethereum into a monster cash-flow machine through staking rewards. If you believe this future, the obvious move is to own the underlying infrastructure at scale. That’s why people compare Bitmine to MicroStrategy—except instead of Bitcoin as digital gold, this is Ethereum as global settlement infrastructure, or the new SWIFT.
Does this help crypto adoption? Yes—but with caveats. If Bitmine executes this vision, it becomes the institutional proxy for ETH exposure. Institutions no longer need to set up their own digital asset treasuries. They can simply buy Bitmine stock through a traditional brokerage and gain ETH exposure indirectly. This shifts ETH ownership from crypto natives to traditional finance. For better or worse, ETH supply starts moving from crypto bros to finance bros.
Bitmine buys Ethereum through ATM and at-the-market offerings. In plain English: They sell BMNR shares, then use the proceeds to buy and stake Ethereum. So it behaves like a yield-bearing ETH wrapper, but inside a public company. Through ATMs, Bitmine has earmarked $24.5 billion worth of shares for ETH purchases. So far, they’ve raised $15 billion, with $11 billion deployed into ETH. If ETH goes up, Bitmine’s market cap and NAV increase. A higher NAV lets them issue more shares at a premium. Issuing more shares dilutes existing shareholders, but it also creates a reflexive flywheel: Sell shares → buy ETH → increase ETH per share → attract more buyers → repeat.
Bitmine makes money in two ways:
The staking yield alone isn’t impressive compared to DeFi. The real upside comes from share premiums, which increase when Bitmine’s stock price rises. If mNAV > 1, new shares are sold at a premium, allowing Bitmine to acquire even more ETH. If mNAV < 1, the market is pricing the company below the value of its ETH treasury—a red flag for believers, unless you’re using leverage strategically.
At the time of recording:
The 0.72 mNAV reflects two concerns:
Bear case: Investors remain skeptical and don’t fully buy the digital asset treasury playbook.
Bull case: You’re effectively buying ETH at a ~20% discount, and an ETH rebound amplifies returns through yield and NAV expansion. Only time will tell.
Everything hinges on whether Bitmine can accumulate 5% of the total ETH supply. In its latest investor report, Bitmine announced that staking operations go live in Q1 2026. Alongside this comes the launch of the MAVAN Network—the Made-in-America Validator Network. This could increase overall ETH staking rewards and position Bitmine as a major Ethereum security provider. Owning 5% of ETH also places Bitmine in a powerful position for Ethereum governance, potentially influencing upgrades and long-term direction. They’ve also been buying ETH every single week, in all market conditions, since July.
Bitmine’s strategy isn’t unique in a crowded digital asset treasury space. Everyone is doing the same thing: Issue shares → buy assets → stake → compound rewards → reinforce the flywheel. What sets Bitmine apart is the Tom Lee factor. Just like MicroStrategy has Michael Saylor, Bitmine has Tom Lee—and that personality alone attracts attention, capital, and credibility on Wall Street. Personally, I’d treat Bitmine shares as more of a convenient balance-sheet instrument. As a retail investor, I wouldn’t pay premiums just to get ETH exposure. I’d rather buy ETH directly and earn staking rewards myself. But for institutions seeking simple, compliant ETH exposure without operational headaches, Bitmine stock may be the path of least resistance. That’s it for this episode of the AthenaX Whitepaper. I’ll see you at the next reading.