Tom Lee’s BitMine (BMNR) Falls 81% Despite Holding 3% of ETH Supply — What Went Wrong?
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Key Takeaways
BitMine is preparing to roll out its own Ethereum staking solution.
Ethereum’s founders are coordinating upgrades aimed at making the network more accessible for Wall Street firms, Lee said.
While BitMine continues to pursue its goal of owning 5% of all ETH, Lee dismissed concerns about centralization.
BitMine Co-Founder and CEO Tom Lee has revealed that the digital asset treasury (DAT) firm will be launching a staking solution “very soon.”
The founder also claimed that the Ethereum founders he has spoken to are preparing to upgrade the network to “ensure Wall Street can build” on it.
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Speaking with Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood on her podcast, BitMine Co-Founder Tom Lee said the company is roughly the 470th-largest U.S. company by market capitalization.
The comments come after BMNR stock rocketed from around $5 to a peak of $161, before settling in the mid-$50s as of Oct. 10, 2025, following a year-to-date surge of nearly 700%.
Once its upcoming staking solution goes live, Lee told the podcast, the company could generate a 2.79% pre-tax yield, potentially ranking among the 800 most profitable firms in the U.S.
A staking solution will allow BitMine to lock up portions of its vast Ethereum holdings to earn yield, effectively turning idle crypto assets into a steady revenue stream.
Lee noted BitMine’s massive crypto treasury, which now includes 2.83 million ETH, representing 2.5% of all Ethereum.
The firm also holds 192 BTC and $456 million in cash, giving the company about $13.4 billion in combined crypto and cash reserves.
That makes BitMine the world’s largest corporate holder of Ethereum and the second-largest overall crypto treasury, behind MicroStrategy.
As markets fell over the past week, BitMine acquired another 104,336 ETH worth $417 million, according to on-chain tracking data.
Ethereum Upgrades Imminent
Ethereum’s founders are currently preparing upgrades that will allow major financial institutions, including Wall Street firms, to build directly on the blockchain, Lee told the podcast.
Lee said that after spending time with Ethereum developers and project leaders at Token 2049, he learned they were coordinated on implementing the necessary changes for institutional integration.
“I have gotten the clear sense spending time at Token with a lot of the Ethereum founders that they are really listening to make sure they’re going to do the upgrades that allow Wall Street to build on Ethereum,” Lee said.
He added that this reflects a “rejuvenation of the thinking within Ethereum” that is uniting the community and reinforcing its leadership in the blockchain space.
“Yeah, I think that that’s kind of the rejuvenation of the thinking within Ethereum that I think is helping the community galvanize too,” he added.
Lee’s comments suggest that Ethereum’s next development phase could focus heavily on institutional-grade infrastructure, requiring the network to emphasize security and scalability.
Ethereum’s emphasis on maintaining its “100% uptime network,” as Lee praised, has become a key differentiator as banks and payment networks explore distributed ledger technologies.
Ethereum Ownership
While Lee explained how BitMine’s upcoming staking solution could further strengthen its position in Ethereum, he dismissed concerns that the company’s large holdings could lead to network centralization.
The comments come as the firm continues to pursue its publicly stated target of acquiring 5% of the total ETH supply, an internal goal dubbed “The Alchemy of 5%.”
Lee admitted that there is a point where an entity owning too much of a network could “actually have a negative effect because they’re crowding out innovation.”
However, he said discussions with researchers from Fundstrat and Standard Chartered indicate that “10% is actually still an acceptable level.”
“…because if you think about even in any competitive world, if someone has 10% of a system, they aren’t in control of it,” he said.
Lee noted that he believed “up to 12 million Ethereum tokens isn’t crowding, and that’s double BitMine’s target.”
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
