Tom Lee's BitMine Adds More Ethereum as Strategy Takes a Break From Bitcoin Buying

In brief

• Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies added around $146 million in ETH over the last week.
• Meanwhile, top Bitcoin treasury Strategy paused its purchases in the final week of the quarter.
• Both firms maintain major unrealized losses stretching into the billions.

Leading Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies continued its buying spree, adding 71,179 ETH or around $146 million worth of ETH last week while Bitcoin behemoth Strategy stood down, ending its streak of weekly Bitcoin purchases. BitMine’s addition brings its total haul to 4,732,082 ETH, now valued around $9.7 billion as ETH changes hands around $2,055. The firm also maintains 197 BTC worth approximately $13.2 million, alongside $961 million in cash.  “As the Iran war enters its 5th week, ETH and crypto outperformed the broader market,” said BitMine Chairman Tom Lee in a statement, highlighting the second-largest crypto asset’s gains when compared to traditional equities and gold.  

“Crypto is demonstrating itself to be a good ‘war time’ store of value," he added.  As it stands, ETH has jumped around 8% in the last month of trading, while gold has dropped nearly 13% in that time. Furthermore, traditional stock indices, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, have dropped more than 7% each.  “The inverse correlation of crypto (and equities) to oil has been increasing and is at the highest levels in the past year,” said Lee. “This is logical. Until equity markets become comfortable with the future trajectory of oil prices, rising oil is a headwind for equities and crypto.”  Lee, who believes the crypto market is in the final stages of a “mini crypto winter,” said it will “likely end when the upside risk to oil prices peaks.”

His firm’s commitment to Ethereum is paralleled by Strategy’s tether to Bitcoin, but the leading crypto treasury’s pause in Bitcoin purchases shouldn’t ring an immediate alarm for crypto investors. The firm, which routinely adds Bitcoin to its balance sheet every week, has historically paused its purchases during the week that concludes fiscal quarters. A reprieve from Bitcoin purchases in the last week continues that trend. Nevertheless, it has managed to accumulate 762,099 BTC—worth around $51.2 billion at the time of writing—since it started buying Bitcoin in 2020. Though the leading crypto treasuries have been successful in consistently accumulating their preferred crypto assets, the pair remain deeply in the red on their investments as Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to slide from their respective all-time highs.  According to data from Artemis Analytics, BitMine now manages paper losses of more than $7 billion on its acquired Ethereum. Saylor and Strategy’s losses are slightly smaller, coming in around $6.2 billion according to data from SaylorTracker. Shares in their firms are each up since opening bell on Monday, with BMNR rising only slightly to change hands around $18.40. MSTR is up 0.6%, trading at $126.80. At those prices, each has fallen more than 60% in the last six months as Bitcoin and Ethereum are 46% and 58% off their all-time highs, respectively.