Bitmine’s ETH staking passes 70% of holdings after latest $320 million push

Tom Lee's Bitmine, the largest Ethereum treasury company, staked roughly $320 million worth of ether over the past 24 hours, now generating yield on over 70% of its total holdings.

The latest tranche of about 75,600 ETH was moved to Coinbase Prime for staking on Thursday morning, following a separate allocation of more than 61,200 ETH on Wednesday, its first batch in roughly three weeks, according to onchain data from Arkham Intelligence.

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain flagged the move, noting that Bitmine has now staked approximately 3.5 million ETH, valued at around $8.1 billion, representing about "70.1% of its overall holdings."

And while not yet confirmed by Bitmine, Lookonchain said that three new wallets likely tied to the firm received 100,000 ETH worth roughly $234 million ahead of Thursday’s staking.

If true, it would bring Bitmine’s total ether holdings to roughly 5.08 million ETH, extending its lead to more than 580% over its next closest peer, SharpLink, which holds about 868,699 ETH, according to The Block’s data. 

The firm now controls more than 4.1% of the total ether supply, not far off its target of 5%.

The buy would track with Bitmine's latest activity. On Monday, The Block reported that the firm purchased more than 100,000 ETH over the week prior, with Chairman Tom Lee saying that he sees ether in the "final stages of the 'mini-crypto winter.'"

Ethereum is trading for $2,317 today, down around 3.5% on the day, making it the biggest loser in the top 20 cryptocurrencies.

Move to MAVAN

Bitmine said in March it plans to migrate its ether treasury to MAVAN, an in-house staking platform launched last month, though recent allocations continue to be routed through Coinbase Prime.

Once fully migrated, the company has projected annual staking rewards of nearly $300 million, based on a 2.83% seven-day yield.

The company’s stock (NASDAQ: BMNR) has struggled over the past six months, tracking ether's roughly 50% decline during the broader crypto market drawdown. BMNR was trading around $22 on Thursday, down about 55% since October.

The Block has reached out to Lee for comment.