BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the largest Ethereum-focused treasury company, continued its weekly activity buying streak even as a strong crypto selloff compounded its unrealized losses and sent its shares to new 7-month lows.
The company said in a Monday update that it purchased 41,788 ETH last week, its largest weekly token collection so far this year, worth around $96 million at current prices. The purchase brought BitMine’s total ETH holdings to 4,285,125 tokens, or approximately 3.55% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to a company update released Monday. The company also holds 193 bitcoins $586 million in cash, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, and a $20 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
Ether fell to around $2,300 over the weekend, bringing the company’s total crypto, cash and stock holdings to $10.7 billion. During US trading on Monday morning, the price had recovered slightly to $2,360. BMNR shares fell 5% >
With the sharp drop in crypto prices last week, the company is estimated to be sitting on around $6 billion in unrealized losses on its position.
Chairman Thomas Lee said weak ether prices contrast with growing activity on the Ethereum blockchain, noting that daily transactions and active addresses have recently reached record levels.
“During the 2021-2022 or 2018-2019 crypto winter, Ethereum transaction activity and active wallets declined, which goes against what we have seen over the past 12 months,” Lee said.
He argued that the lingering effects of October’s crypto crash and the recent surge in precious metals prices have weighed on the market, sucking liquidity out of the crypto economy.
BitMine also increased staking, bringing its total ETH staked to nearly 2.9 million tokens, or roughly two-thirds of its holdings, generating approximately $188 million in annualized staking revenue.
