BitMine Adds Another $92M in ETH, Holdings Now 4.7% of Circulating Supply
Taylor Wilson
Listed treasury firm BitMine spent $92 million last week to add over 52,000 ETH, lifting its total holdings to roughly 5.67 million tokens worth $10 billion — 4.7% of Ethereum's circulating supply — betting that staking income, not perpetual fundraising, can fund its dividend.
How much did it buy, and where did the money come from?
BitMine purchased 52,203 ETH last week for roughly $92 million, bringing total holdings to 5,672,956 tokens.
The cash came from a preferred-stock offering — ticker BMNP — completed this month on the NYSE, raising about $274 million.
BMNP opened at $85 and traded at $88.34 Monday morning, up about 1.7% — the market is cautiously on board for now.
How does the staking math work?
BitMine has already staked over 4.7 million ETH — roughly 83% of its holdings — through its U.S.-based validator-node network. Staking means locking tokens into the Ethereum network to help verify transactions in exchange for yield.
Chairman Tom Lee estimates that once all tokens are staked, annualized staking revenue will reach roughly $268 million, at a yield of 1.7%–3.2%.
This means → staking income could, in theory, cover the preferred-stock dividend directly — no need for another round of external financing.
How does this differ from Strategy's model?
Strategy also issued a dividend-bearing preferred stock, STRC, to fund Bitcoin purchases — but STRC has recently fallen more than 10% below its $100 par value.
The market's core concern: Strategy's dividend funding path is unclear, raising the risk of a borrow-to-pay loop.
In plain terms = BitMine is trying to build a self-funding asset — "the asset earns cash flow that pays the dividend." Strategy looks more like "keep issuing debt to buy more coin" — one funds dividends from yield, the other from fundraising.
What is management's outlook?
Tom Lee said: "We believe the best years in crypto are still ahead." He expects tokenization and AI to drive exponential growth in blockchain demand.
This reflects management positioning ETH as a long-term infrastructure asset, not a short-term trading vehicle.
A disclosure worth noting: Lee is also an investor in Dastan, the parent company of Decrypt.
Where do the stock and the token stand now?
BitMine common stock (BMNR) traded at $16.22 Monday — down roughly 90% from its 52-week high of $161.
ETH traded at about $1,752, still roughly 64% below its August high near $4,946.
This means → both the stock and the token are far from their peaks; whether staking income can truly cover the dividend promise is the critical test of this entire model.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.