Bitmine (BMNR) increases Ethereum treasury to $10.7B following NYSE upgrade

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has expanded its Ethereum holdings to 4.87 million ETH, currently worth approximately $10.7 billion. This milestone places the firm at 81% completion toward its ambitious target of controlling 5% of Ethereum’s entire circulating supply. According to Monday’s announcement, Bitmine now commands 4.04% of all existing ETH, solidifying its dominance as the planet’s foremost corporate Ethereum stakeholder. In his commentary accompanying the disclosure, Chairman Tom Lee presented a compelling argument for Ethereum’s role as a macroeconomic asset. He characterized ETH as "the wartime store of value," highlighting its impressive 17.4% appreciation during the seven-week period following the outbreak of hostilities with Iran. This performance exceeded the S&P 500 by 1,830 basis points and surpassed gold by 2,743 basis points during the identical timeframe. According to Lee, the comparison with gold represents the most significant data point. The firm acquired 71,524 ETH during the previous week alone. This purchase represents the fourth straight week of heightened accumulation activity, equaling the peak acquisition pace observed during late December 2025. Lee expressed his conviction that ETH is currently "in the final stages of the mini-crypto winter." This characterization implies he interprets present pricing levels as an opportune entry point rather than a cautionary indicator. Staking Operations Generate Substantial Income. Among the company’s 4.87 million ETH treasury, 3.33 million tokens—approximately 68%—are currently deployed in staking operations. With a 7-day yield measuring 2.89%, this position produces $212 million in annualized staking income. Lee observed that this revenue figure could climb to $310 million per year as additional portions of the treasury become activated for staking. This represents a substantial revenue channel for an organization primarily focused on treasury management. The company’s aggregate holdings across all asset classes amount to $11.8 billion. This encompasses $719 million in liquid cash, a $200 million investment in Beast Industries, and an $85 million ownership position in Eightco Holdings (ORBS). The organization completed its transition from NYSE American to the primary New York Stock Exchange on April 9, maintaining its BMNR ticker symbol. The stock currently trades with an average daily dollar volume of $747 million, ranking it 117th among all U.S. exchange-listed equities. Notable institutional supporters include ARK’s Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, and Lee personally. Lee Identifies AI and Asset Tokenization as Growth Catalysts. Lee articulated two particular catalysts driving Ethereum’s long-term appreciation: the tokenization of traditional Wall Street assets on blockchain networks, and the emergence of agentic AI systems requiring public, permissionless blockchains for functionality. He positions ETH as foundational infrastructure—extending beyond its role as merely a DeFi token—with relevance to both institutional finance and artificial intelligence advancement. Bitmine occupies the second position among all corporate digital asset treasuries globally, trailing only Strategy’s substantial 766,970 BTC holdings. Notwithstanding the compelling accumulation narrative, BMNR stock has retreated 32% year-to-date. Trading on Monday showed the shares up roughly 1.50% at approximately $21.54, while ETH itself traded around $2,206.