coindesk.com
BitMine Immersion Technologies’ (BMNR) $200 million investment in Beast Industries represents a favorable strategic diversification that could enhance the company’s long-term valuation, according to investment bank B. Riley.
The bank said the investment, announced Thursday, in the privately held entertainment and consumer products company best known for YouTube creator MrBeast, provides the company with optionality beyond its core ether ETH$3,304.87 accumulation strategy, while positioning the firm as a more active and credible capital allocator.
"The partnership provides BMNR with marketing access to MrBeast's 450M+ audience while creating monetization pathways for its MAVAN staking infrastructure through Beast's planned DeFi-integrated financial services platform, potentially generating technical consulting and transaction revenue," analyst Fedor Shabalin wrote in the Friday report.
While acknowledging execution risks, including regulatory uncertainty and reliance on Beast Mobile, a financial platform that has yet to start operating, Shabalin described the move as a logical extension of BitMine’s business strategy and consistent with its view that the company deserves a premium valuation.
Bitmine has positioned its balance sheet around accumulating and managing ether, rather than operating as a traditional mining or infrastructure business.
It frames its ether treasury strategy as a long-term bet on Ethereum’s role as the dominant smart-contract network, with plans to generate incremental returns through staking and related services rather than simply holding the asset passively.
BitMine currently trades at roughly 1.0x modified net asset value (mNAV), according to B. Riley.
Anticipated MAVAN staking revenue, combined with the Beast Industries partnership, supports further upside, the analyst said.
The bank reiterated its buy rating and $47 price target on the stock. The shares were lower at $30.77 in early trading Friday.
Read more: Tom Lee's Bitmine Immersion invests $200 million in YouTube star MrBeast’s company