Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine and cofounder of Fundstrat, speaking at Consensus 2026 in Miami (CoinDesk)
What to know:
Bitmine, the largest Ethereum treasury firm, is sitting on an estimated $8.9 billion in unrealized losses as ETH fell below $1,800 in the latest crypto pullback.
The company’s shares hit their lowest level since it adopted its Ethereum treasury strategy in May 2025.
The selloff highlights the growing gap between Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee’s bullish calls and current market weakness.
The selloff comes as ETH retests its February lows. The second-largest cryptocurrency has lost more than 20% since early May, when Lee, Fundstrat’s co-founder and BitMine’s chairman, argued that the market’s “mini crypto winter” had likely ended and a new “crypto spring” had begun.
Under Lee’s leadership, Bitmine has amassed more than 5.4 million ETH, or roughly 4.5% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, in roughly a year. That position is worth about $10 billion at current prices.
Those holdings, however, are now deeply underwater, carrying an estimated $8.9 billion in unrealized losses, according to data collected by DropsTab.
Bitmine ether (ETH) holdings and estimated unrealized losses (DropsTab)
Digital asset treasuries under pressure
Bitmine’s drawdown highlights renewed pressure across the digital asset treasury sector, where companies seek to replicate the playbook pioneered by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR): raise capital through public markets and use the proceeds to accumulate crypto.
That model has become increasingly harder to sustain as crypto prices weakened and many treasury stocks drifted below the value of their underlying assets.
Strategy itself recently disclosed its first bitcoin sale since 2022, sparking debate about how the company might fund future obligations tied to its preferred stock offerings.
Bitmine’s situation differs in some key respects. The company financed its ether purchases primarily through equity issuance rather than debt, leaving it without the leverage concerns and interest payments that some treasury peers face.
The company also generates revenue from staking its ETH and operating its staking service MAVAN. Bitmine said it has staked more than 4.7 million ETH — about 87% of its holdings — and recently estimated annualized staking revenue at roughly $276 million.
Lee calls for $250,000 ETH
The recent price action has not tempered Lee’s long-term outlook.
Speaking at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris earlier this week, he said ETH could eventually reach $250,000 as tokenization, AI-driven transactions and corporate staking reshape Ethereum’s role in the global financial system.
For now, investors appear focused on a more immediate reality. Ether is back near levels last seen during February’s selloff, leaving Bitmine’s treasury deep underwater and highlighting the gap between Lee’s long-term thesis and the market’s current view of the asset.
Bitcoin’s recent weakness reflects a broader rotation into AI, IPOs and other momentum trades rather than concerns about Michael Saylor’s bitcoin sales, according to Charles Schwab’s Jim Ferraioli.
What to know:
Bitcoin’s recent underperformance is less about fading institutional demand or Michael Saylor’s sales and more about losing its status as the market’s dominant momentum trade, according to Charles Schwab director of digital currencies research and strategy, Jim Ferraioli.
Capital that once chased speculative gains in crypto is increasingly flowing to…
