Tom Lee, President of Ether Treasury company BitMine Immersion (BMNR) has urged shareholders to approve a board proposal to sharply increase the number of authorized shares of the company.
In a message earlier this year, Lee said the proposal to increase the company’s share count from 500 million to 50 billion was not a precursor to a move to “dilute” shareholders.
“[This]This doesn’t mean we issue 50 billion shares. That’s what we want the maximum share total to be,” Lee said.
Acknowledging that a higher share count makes it easier for the company to raise capital, Lee reiterated that it also allows BitMine to enter into opportunistic deals and, more importantly, according to Lee, accommodate future stock splits.
Lee argued that BitMine’s stock price has increasingly followed ether since the company pivoted last year to make ETH its primary treasury asset. If the price of ether rises over the years as he predicts – up to $250,000 if bitcoin hits $1 million – splits will be necessary to keep the shares “available” to the public.
Lee framed the proposal as part of a broader thesis that Ethereum will play a central role in Wall Street’s push toward tokenized financial markets, pointing to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s public comments on blockchain-based market infrastructure. Lee separately said he personally accumulated ether, aligning his macro view with BitMine’s treasury strategy.
Lee reminded shareholders that they have until January 14 to vote on the proposal, with BitMine’s annual shareholder meeting scheduled for January 15 in Las Vegas.
