BitMine Acquires $173 Million In Ether

BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), an Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury firm, announced Monday it added 54,156 Ether (ETH) tokens, valued at approximately $170 million, to its holdings last week. The firm, led by Wall Street strategist Thomas Lee, now holds nearly 3.6 million ETH, worth over $11.1 billion, making it the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury globally. Its overall holdings also include 192 Bitcoin (worth roughly $17 million) and $607 million in cash.

The acquisition comes despite a recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market. Ether has declined by 15.6% in the past week and is currently 39.7% below its August 2023 peak. This volatility follows a historic liquidation event in October, which wiped out nearly $20 billion in positions.

Chairman Thomas Lee believes the current market weakness is due to a market maker seeking to raise capital and reduce liquidity after the October crash. He described this as a form of quantitative tightening (QT) impacting the crypto market.

Lee, referencing his early recommendation of Bitcoin in 2017 when it was priced at $1,000, anticipates a similar “supercycle” for Ether. Bitcoin has since increased 100-fold from that initial recommendation, according to Lee.

He suggests the market is still recovering from the October liquidation event, contributing to the current price pressure. The impact of this QT process lasted 6-8 weeks in 2022, a pattern Lee believes is repeating now.

Lee, a long-time Bitcoin proponent, maintains an optimistic outlook on end-of-year price forecasts. Earlier this month, he projected Bitcoin could reach $200,000 before the year-end, and Ethereum could potentially reach $7,000 by the end of 2025.

Disclaimer: What is written here is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments are high-risk investments. Every investment decision is under the individual’s own responsibility.