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2025-12-16 18:10:00
Key takeaways
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BitMine says it holds 3,864,951 ETH after adding 138,452 ETH in a week, describing its treasury as representing more than 3.2% of the ETH supply.
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The accumulation is happening alongside risk-off signals, including notable spot Ether ETF outflow days and a reported spike in net outflows to Binance.
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BitMine frames the strategy as both catalyst-driven (the Fusaka upgrade) and operational, pointing to staking via its planned MAVAN initiative in early 2026.
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Interpretations differ, with some viewing the move as conviction-style positioning and others as a concentrated corporate treasury bet that is highly sensitive to flows, liquidity and volatility.
BitMine is accelerating its Ether buying even as other signals around the cryptocurrency have turned risk off.
In a Dec. 8 disclosure, the company said it held 3,864,951 Ether (ETH) as of Dec. 7 and added 138,452 ETH over the prior week, describing the position as representing more than 3.2% of the ETH supply.
The backdrop looks less supportive. US spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have posted several notable net outflow days into early December, for example, -$79.0 million on Dec. 1 and -$41.5 million on Dec. 4, based on Farside’s daily totals. Meanwhile, onchain commentators have pointed to elevated ETH deposits to Binance, including a reported 162,084-ETH inflow on Dec. 5. Ether fell about 22% in November.
BitMine says the buying is a long-term bet on future catalysts, while critics see it as a large, concentrated treasury position taken as market flows remain cautious.
Did you know? Tom Lee has been ranked by Institutional Investor since 1998, and before co-founding Fundstrat, he served as JPMorgan’s chief equity strategist from 2007 to 2014.
What exactly has BitMine done?
BitMine’s latest disclosure puts its Ether position at 3,864,951 ETH as of Dec. 7, valued at an ETH price of $3,139.
The company also reported buying 138,452 ETH over the prior week and said the treasury represents more than 3.2% of ETH’s supply.
Alongside ETH, BitMine listed 193 BTC, $1 billion in cash and a $36-million stake in Eightco Holdings under its “moonshots” bucket, presenting the combined portfolio as a crypto and cash treasury strategy positioned as a public equity vehicle that may offer indirect exposure for some investors.
This posture is relatively new. BitMine shifted from its prior focus to an aggressive Ether treasury strategy in late June 2025 and has publicly discussed an ambition to eventually acquire up to 5% of the total ETH supply.
The strategy has attracted high-profile attention, with the company citing investments and buying interest associated with Bill Miller III, ARK Invest and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
Did you know? Peter Thiel disclosed a 9.1% stake in BitMine in July 2025, making him its largest investor at the time of writing.
The “fear” signals around Ether
The “market fear” framing in this story is largely flow-driven.
On the ETF side, US spot Ether products have shown uneven demand into early December. Farside’s daily totals include multiple negative sessions, such as -$79.0 million on Dec. 1 and -$9.9 million on Dec. 2, after a stronger run in late November.
Separately, the category saw heavy outflows in November, with $1.4 billion in net outflows, the largest monthly withdrawal on record.
On exchanges, analysts often view large ETH deposits to trading venues as a possible sign of increased near-term sell-side readiness. Ether’s netflow to Binance reached 162,084 ETH on Dec. 5, described as the largest single-day positive netflow since May 2023.
Price action has reinforced the risk-off tone. Ether fell about 22% in November, a drawdown that provides the emotional backdrop for interpreting those flows.
BitMine’s rationale
BitMine has framed its ETH accumulation as a thesis-driven treasury strategy rather than a response to short-term price moves.
In its Dec. 8 disclosure, the company linked the buying to “multiple catalysts,” putting Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade at the center of the argument.
BitMine chairman Tom Lee described the Dec. 3 activation as a milestone that improves Ethereum’s scalability, security and usability and positioned it as part of the network’s next phase of technical maturation.
The company also tied its Ethereum bet to a looser macro backdrop. In the same filing, Lee pointed to the US Federal Reserve ending quantitative tightening and referenced expectations of a market pricing for rate cuts, presenting both as supportive conditions for risk assets in general.
Operationally, BitMine has connected its treasury approach to staking. In a Nov. 21 filing, it said it plans to begin Ether staking in early 2026 through a “Made in America Validator Network” (MAVAN).
The company also disclosed that it selected three staking providers for a pilot test, using a portion of its ETH holdings ahead of a broader rollout.
Did you know? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority approved the company’s name change from Sandy Springs Holdings to BitMine Immersion Technologies in March 2022, along with the ticker change to “BMNR.”
Two competing interpretations
Interpretation A: Conviction and structural positioning
From BitMine’s perspective, the accumulation reads like a deliberate attempt to build scale ahead of catalysts it believes are not fully reflected in current positioning.
The company’s Dec. 8 disclosure explicitly frames the buying as thesis-driven, pointing to Ethereum’s Fusaka activation and a macro backdrop it describes as turning more supportive for risk assets.
In that context, the ETH stack is presented more as a strategic reserve that can be paired with operational participation in the network.
BitMine’s Nov. 21 filing reinforces that angle through MAVAN.
Supporters of this view also point to a familiar public markets dynamic: A listed company can function as a simplified exposure vehicle for investors who prefer an equity wrapper, even when direct crypto demand is uneven.
Interpretation B: Concentrated corporate treasury risk taken against a cautious tape
A more skeptical reading starts with the same numbers and arrives somewhere else. BitMine itself describes the position as more than 3.2% of ETH’s supply, which can be interpreted as concentration risk: The strategy’s success becomes highly sensitive to ETH volatility, financing conditions and liquidity.
This view gains traction when risk-off flow indicators are active. Farside’s daily totals show negative sessions for spot Ether ETFs into early December, while separate analytics commentary has highlighted large ETH deposits to Binance, including a reported 162,084 ETH inflow on Dec. 5.
Add in November’s drawdown, and critics frame the move as a high-conviction directional bet on a reversal rather than a calm accumulation.
BitMine’s own filing language also notes that outcomes depend on market conditions and other forward-looking risks, factors that can make the same accumulation look either visionary or fragile, depending on which regime dominates.
What happens next?
In the near term, BitMine’s strategy will be judged by follow-through: whether the company keeps expanding its disclosed ETH treasury at a similar cadence and continues publishing regular balance updates.
The next concrete operational milestone it has outlined is staking. BitMine has said it plans to begin staking in early 2026 via MAVAN, following a pilot using third-party providers.
On the protocol side, Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade activated on Dec. 3, 2025 (per the Ethereum Foundation), setting the stage for subsequent scaling-oriented work.
Meanwhile, the flow indicators driving the “fear” framing (daily ETF net flows and large exchange deposits) remain the most visible real-time signals to watch.
