Chairman Tom Lee said the company remains confident in Ethereum's outlook despite uncertainty surrounding U.S. crypto legislation. He pointed to the recent improvement in the $ETH-to-Bitcoin ratio as evidence that market sentiment is becoming increasingly favorable for Ethereum.
According to Lee, the ratio has climbed to its highest level in three months, suggesting Ethereum could continue outperforming Bitcoin if current trends persist. He believes the cryptocurrency has room to advance toward the $2,000 and eventually $2,500 price levels. At the time of the announcement, $ETH was trading near $1,900, giving the network a market capitalization of roughly $232 billion.
BitMine also expanded its shareholder return program by repurchasing 6.1 million shares during the past week. Since the beginning of July, the company has bought back a combined 11.6 million shares under its previously approved $4 billion share repurchase authorization.
The firm's Ethereum strategy extends beyond simply accumulating tokens. BitMine said approximately 4.9 million $ETH are currently staked through its Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), an institutional staking platform introduced earlier this year. Once all of its Ethereum holdings are fully deployed through MAVAN and partner validators, the company estimates it could generate around $299 million in annualized staking rewards.
BitMine has steadily increased its Ethereum exposure throughout 2026. The company crossed the 5 million $ETH milestone in April before highlighting that its growing holdings represented roughly 4.3% of Ethereum's circulating supply. It later raised nearly $274 million through a preferred stock offering to finance additional $ETH purchases, infrastructure expansion, and continued development of its staking business. Earlier this month, BitMine added another $73 million worth of Ethereum, setting the stage for its latest acquisition.
The company's aggressive accumulation reflects a broader trend among publicly traded firms that are adopting Ethereum treasury strategies. Companies such as Sharplink and Bit Digital have increasingly shifted capital toward $ETH, following a model similar to the Bitcoin treasury strategy popularized by Strategy. As institutional interest in Ethereum continues to grow, BitMine appears determined to remain one of the network's largest corporate holders while expanding its staking operations to generate long-term yield from its sizable holdings.