BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the largest Ethereum-focused treasury company, continued its weekly ether buying streak, even as a sharp crypto selloff compounded its unrealized losses and sent the stock to new 7-month lows.
The firm said in a Monday update that it bought 41,788 ETH last week, its biggest weekly token haul so far this year, worth about $96 million at current prices. The purchase lifted BitMine’s total ETH holdings to 4,285,125 tokens, or about 3.55% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to a company update released Monday. The firm also has 193 bitcoin $586 million in cash, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries and a $20 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
Ether fell to around $2,300 over the weekend, pulling the firm’s total crypto, cash and stock holdings down to $10.7 billion. In US trading on Monday morning, the price had risen modestly to $2,360. BMNR shares were lower by 5%>
With crypto prices plummeting last week, the firm is estimated to be sitting on around $6 billion in unrealized losses on its position.
Chairman Thomas Lee said ether’s price weakness contrasts with increasing activity on the Ethereum blockchain, noting that daily transactions and active addresses recently hit record highs.
“During the 2021-2022 or 2018-2019 crypto winter, Ethereum transaction activity and active wallets decreased, which is contrary to what we have seen in the past 12 months,” Lee said.
He argued that the lingering effects of October’s crypto crash and the recent spike in precious metals prices have weighed on the market and siphoned liquidity from the crypto economy.
BitMine has also increased stakes, raising its total staked ETH to nearly 2.9 million tokens, or about two-thirds of its holdings, generating an estimated $188 million in annual stake revenue.
