Bitmine Immersion Technologies shares exploded 511% on June 30 after revealing a privately owned placement of $250 million. All of these are allocated to the accumulation of Ethereum (ETH) and show a dramatic shift from Bitcoin mining to the ETH Treasury strategy.
The move not only shakes Bitmine’s business model, but places Ethereum Front and Center on the company’s long-term vision, with industry heavyweight Thomas Lee being chaired by the board.
Bitmine bets on Ethereum as a Ministry of Finance’s Protected Asset
Bitmine, which recently rose to NYSE American in June, had previously raised $18 million in a public offering used to buy 100 BTC. It marked the first step towards holding the Cryptocurrency.
However, the latest move to Ethereum represents a massive escalation of ambition. This is because companies plan to increase their crypto reserves by more than 16 times, and Ethereum has become a major Treasury reserve asset.
According to the company’s Monday application, Bitmine will issue 55,555,556 common stock at $4.50 each, increasing its gross revenue of approximately $250 million. The offering is expected to close by July 3rd due to a pending customary approval from NYSE Americans.
Investment company Mozayyx leads private placements and includes participation from several well-known investors, including the Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Republic Digital, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, Falconx, DCG, and Aimetric Capital.
Thomas Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, also joined the agreement and was appointed chairman of Bitmine’s board of directors.
Thomas Lee described Ethereum as a “higher beta” asset than Bitcoin due to its fundamental role in Stablecoin trading, decentralized finance (DEFI), and tokenized assets. He cited comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who predicted that Stablecoin Market could grow from $250 billion to $2 trillion today by 2028.
“Ethereum is a blockchain where the majority of stablecoin payments are traded, and therefore ETH should benefit from this growth,” Lee said in a statement from the company.
The announcement says the company will work with Falconx, Kraken and Galaxy Digital to help manage its Ethereum strategy implementation, liquidity and infrastructure support, while Bitgo and Fidelity’s digital assets have been selected as administrators for Bitmine’s Eth Treasury Holdings.
Investor responses were immediate and keen. Bitmine’s stock jumped from $4.26 to $26.06, representing an increase of 511.02%, according to Yahoo Finance data.
The stock reached that level at 1:47pm on EDT, increasing the company’s market capitalization from under $31 million to about $105.87 million.
Private placements are expected to dilute existing shareholders, but the company’s aggressive ETH strategy could help position it among the key Ethereum corporate holders. Still, Bitmine faces tough competition in this area.
Sharplink (SBET), a Minnesota-based affiliate marketing company, has announced it has owned 188,478 ETH since its second acquisition.
However, Ethereum Foundation remains the largest known institutional holder, with 213,072 ETH currently worth more than $525 million based on the ETH transaction price of around $2,487 in ETH.
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