BitMine Immersion’s aggressive ether accumulation has backfired after the recent leg lower in crypto markets, leaving the company with more than $6 billion in paper losses on its ETH holdings.
The publicly traded company added over 40,000 ether last week, bringing its total balance to around 4.24 million ETH, according to portfolio tracking data from Dropstab.
Since then, prices have fallen sharply, pulling the value of BitMine’s cache to around $9.6 billion – down from nearly $14 billion at peaks seen in October.
Ether slipped towards the $2,300 level on Saturday as selling accelerated across major tokens.
The timing of BitMine’s latest purchase has put its balance sheet strategy back in focus. Corporate crypto government bonds have become a prominent feature in the current cycle, but heavy exposure can amplify volatility as markets turn and bids fade.
Losses have also mounted as forced selling rippled through derivatives markets, adding momentum to the decline. Liquidations across major venues accelerated along with ether’s decline, adding pressure to spot prices.
The company’s chairman Tom Lee has recently struck a more cautious tone in the near term.
While he remains constructive on the longer term, he has warned that the market is still working through deleveraging and that early 2026 could be rough before conditions stabilize.
In a recent interview, he pointed to October’s sharp selloff — which wiped out about $19 billion in market capitalization — as a pause that reset positioning across crypto.
BitMine has previously said a portion of its ether position is staked, estimating annual stake revenue of around $164 million. However, this revenue stream fluctuates with the network yield and does little to offset large price swings during fast moves.
