Bitmine’s ETH holdings reached 6.03 million tokens in its October 12, 2026 update, putting the company near its target of owning 5% of Ethereum’s supply. Its combined crypto, cash, marketable securities and “moonshot” investments totaled $16.2 billion, while Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee argued that purchases during the bear market had positioned it for an expected crypto upswing.
Key takeaways
- Bitmine owns 4.9% of Ethereum’s stated supply.
- Its staked ETH carries a reported $12.9 billion valuation.
- According to the company’s release, BMNP preferred shares gained 24% since issuance, while the original source document cites +24% gains over 10 years.
- Lee’s bullish forecast rests on tokenization, inheritance, treasury demand and AI.
In a press release published by PR Newswire, the company reported its balances as of October 11, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. ET. The update followed Lee’s October 7, 2026 chairman’s message, “Crypto Bull Underway — This Cycle Likely the Largest.”
Bitmine’s ETH holdings and treasury size
The treasury contained precisely 6,028,946 ETH, representing 4.9% of the stated 122.1 million-token supply. The release valued ETH using a $2,544 reference price from Coinbase.
Other holdings included 214 Bitcoin, $612 million in cash and marketable securities, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries and an $85 million stake in Eightco Holdings. The company described Eightco as a publicly listed route to indirect OpenAI exposure.
The release ranked the company as the largest Ethereum treasury and the second-largest crypto treasury overall, behind Strategy Inc., which reportedly held 848,000 BTC worth approximately $77 billion.
Staking through MAVAN
The company reported 5,067,309 staked ETH, valued at $12.9 billion and equivalent to 84% of its ETH holdings. A portion was already deployed through MAVAN, its Ethereum staking platform.
Launched earlier in 2026, MAVAN—Made in America VAlidator Network—was initially built for the company’s treasury. It now also serves institutional investors, custodians and ecosystem partners.
Lee cited $336 million in annualized staking revenue at the existing staking level. He projected $400 million annually once the treasury is fully staked through MAVAN and its partners, using a 2.61% seven-day yield.
Preferred shares and market performance
The NYSE-listed Series A perpetual preferred stock, BMNP, yielded 9.56% in the update. Issued in June 2026 at $80 with a 9.5% stated rate, it last closed at $99.53.
Lee reported a 24% gain since issuance, while the original source document cites +24% gains over 10 years, compared with an 8% decline in Treasuries represented by TLT. He placed BMNP’s yield 256 basis points below comparable Bitcoin credit, STRC, and 515 basis points below comparable Solana credit, CHAD.
For the first nine months of 2026, Lee reported that BMNR shares fell 3% while ETH declined 10%, citing 731 basis points of outperformance. He also reported that ETH beat the S&P 500 by 6,832 basis points in the third quarter, despite a hawkish Fed, rising oil prices, higher global bond yields and tighter financial conditions.
The company entered the Russell 1000 Large-cap index on June 26, 2026.
The bull-market forecast and regulatory outlook
Lee sees potential for the largest crypto bull market yet, driven by tokenization, wealth transfer, supply absorbed by Digital Asset Treasuries and crypto’s role downstream of AI. These are management’s expectations.
The release cited Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s CNBC statement that “$100 trillion of wealth transfer is underway.” Separately, it cited IRS and Fundstrat data estimating a $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion wealth effect between 2026 and 2028.
Lee expects younger heirs’ appetite for crypto and equities to support demand. He also described treasury-held crypto as effectively removed from market supply, contrasting that dynamic with the 2019–2021 cycle.
Management compared the GENIUS Act and the SEC’s Project Crypto in 2026 with the financial transformation following the United States’ departure from the gold standard on August 15, 1971.
Weekly purchases toward the 5% target
Most of Bitmine’s ETH holdings were accumulated during the crypto bear market, Lee said. The company described itself as 99% of the way toward its “Alchemy of 5%” goal after 15 months.
It bought 12,532 ETH during the preceding week and reported purchases every week since launching its ETH Treasury Strategy on June 30, 2025.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.