Ethereum's circulation takes a significant hit as a major player scoops up a whopping $237 million worth, now controlling almost one twentieth of the total coins in existence.
BitMine Immersion Technologies bought 111,942 ether worth about $237 million last week, increasing its Ethereum holdings to 5.39 million $ETH. The company now controls roughly 4.47% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to its latest disclosure. The purchase comes as the firm continues to build its position as the largest corporate holder of Ethereum.
BitMine said in an announcement that its total crypto assets, cash, and strategic investments now stand at $12.3 billion. The portfolio includes 5.39 million $ETH, 203 Bitcoin, $444 million in cash, and equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings. Chairman Tom Lee said the company added to its holdings after Ethereum fell below $2,200, describing the price level as an attractive entry point.
Ethereum Staking Drives Treasury Expansion
BitMine is expanding its business beyond holding digital assets as it scales up Ethereum staking through its MAVAN validator platform. The company said it has staked about 4.71 million $ETH, representing more than 87% of its total Ethereum holdings.
Chairman Tom Lee said the firm is currently generating about $276 million in annualized staking revenue. Over the past week, BitMine reported a staking yield of 2.75% from its internal operations, highlighting the growing contribution of staking income to its treasury model.
Initially developed to handle treasury assets of BitMine, the MAVAN ecosystem will be marketed externally due to increasing demands for staking infrastructure solutions from traditional financial companies. This development is part of a bigger trend seen in the crypto market, where the staking model has become one of the primary income sources for treasury-oriented companies.
As noted by Everstake in its Industry Review 2026, staking operations constitute about 60% of revenues reported by Ethereum treasuries.
Related: Ethereum Fails to Rally Despite Bullish Vitalik Sentiment
Treasury Firms Face Pressure Despite Crypto Growth
Although there is an increase in exposure to cryptocurrency assets, several cryptocurrency treasury companies have still reported huge losses. Based on Everstake data, treasury companies using Ethereum have lost approximately $1.41 billion for the fiscal year of 2025.
BitMine reported a six-month loss of $9.02 billion for the period ending February 2026. Other listed firms, including Bit Digital and BTCS Inc., also posted sizable losses during the same period.
Industry analysts say many of these companies are shifting strategies beyond simply holding crypto assets. Bohdan Opryshko of Everstake noted that treasury firms are increasingly using staking, decentralized finance lending, and validator operations to generate additional income.
In a separate development, BitMine may be added to the Russell 1000 index after the upcoming June rebalancing. Inclusion in the benchmark could lead to increased demand for the company’s shares from institutional investors who track the index.
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