BitMine Immersion Technologies BitMine Immersion Technologies is sitting on a massive paper loss tied to Ethereum. The company says it holds about 4.285 million ETH, worth roughly $9.9 billion at recent prices. But its average buy price was far higher, so the gap adds up to more than $6 billion in unrealized Ethereum losses, based on figures tied to its recent filing and updates.
An unrealized loss means the loss exists on paper. BitMine still owns the Ethereum. The loss becomes “real” only if it sells the Ethereum for less than it paid. That detail matters because BitMine has built its plan around holding, not flipping, even while the ETH price slides.
The company started as a crypto miner, but it shifted into an Ethereum treasury firm in 2025. Its goal is to reach 5% of Ethereum’s supply, which would be roughly 6 million ETH if supply stays near current levels. Supply trackers put Ethereum supply around the 118–121 million range in early 2026, which makes BitMine’s pile a major chunk of the network.
BitMine’s latest buy showed it is still adding Ethereum. It picked up 41,788 ETH, worth about $96 million at the time, even as the market fell. The company’s total now sits above 3.5% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to its own release and other reports tied to the same update.
The problem is simple math. BitMine built most of its Ethereum position at prices around $3,800 to $4,001 per coin, then ETH slid toward the mid-$2,000s. In one snapshot cited in reporting, the firm had bought about 3.7 million Ethereum for roughly $14.95 billion, and that same amount later valued closer to $8.8 billion. That difference drives the huge unrealized loss figure people now link to BitMine.
The company’s chairman, Tom Lee, has tried to keep the message steady. He argues that Ethereum fundamentals look stronger than the price action. He points to Ethereum on-chain activity and active wallets holding up, which is not what the market saw in past crypto winters. He also says the market is treating Ethereum like a risk asset even when its network use stays high.
BitMine also wants to earn yield by staking Ethereum. Staking is when you lock ETH to help run the network and validate blocks, and you get rewards in return. BitMine says it has staked about 2.9 million Ethereum and is building a validator setup it calls MAVAN. It also cited a composite staking rate around 2.81% and talked about annualized staking revenues that rise as more Ethereum moves into staking.
Big backers joined the trade. BitMine has highlighted support from firms like Ark Invest and Founders Fund, plus Galaxy Digital and the exchange Kraken. The company has used those relationships to fund its Ethereum treasury strategy, but backing does not stop losses when ETH drops fast.
Lee has blamed part of the recent slide on the hangover from a wave of crypto liquidations in October and on money moving into metals. Liquidations happen when traders borrow to bet on price moves, then get forced out when the market turns. At the same time, gold has been hitting records and moving with sharp swings, which can pull attention and cash from crypto markets.
BitMine says it did not use leverage to buy its Ethereum, which reduces the risk of forced selling. That sets it apart from some crypto treasury firms that borrow to stack coins, then face pressure when prices fall. Even without leverage, the market can still punish the stock. Shares of BMNR fell as Ethereum slid, and the stock has been volatile since the company first announced its Ethereum treasury pivot.
The stress is not limited to Ethereum treasuries. Michael Saylor and Strategy Inc. face their own test as Bitcoin trades around key levels and investors watch how leverage and debt stacks behave in a downturn. The difference is that BitMine’s bet centers on Ethereum, which tends to swing more than Bitcoin, so drawdowns can look harsher in a short window.
For now, BitMine’s story is a clear snapshot of what happens when a single company tries to corner a large share of Ethereum. The plan is to hold Ethereum, stake Ethereum, and ride out the cycle. The risk is that Ethereum can stay low longer than expected, turning a paper loss into a lasting drag on the business, the stock, and the wider Ethereum trade.
