Bitmine Nears 5% of Ethereum Supply With 5.74 Million ETH Held

Ethereum News

Bitmine Immersion Technologies has moved to within a fraction of controlling 5% of all Ethereum (ETH) in circulation, according to the company's investor-relations disclosure dated July 6. The firm now holds 5.74 million ETH, equal to roughly 4.8% of the 120.7 million ETH global supply, marking its 12-month “Alchemy 5%” accumulation plan as 95% complete. Only about 0.2 percentage points of supply remain to be purchased from the open market to finalize the target. The company's total crypto, cash and venture holdings have climbed to $11.1 billion, positioning Bitmine as one of the largest single corporate holders of the second-ranked altcoin by market value.

A large share of that treasury is actively generating yield rather than sitting idle. The company's disclosure states that 4.88 million ETH have been deployed into staking through MAVAN, Bitmine's own U.S.-based validator network — the technical infrastructure that confirms transactions and secures the proof-of-stake chain. That staked position produces an estimated $235 million to $277 million in annual passive income. Staking, the mechanism by which tokens are locked to a network in exchange for rewards, has become central to Bitmine's thesis: the firm frames its ETH pile not as a passive bet but as a productive, cash-flowing asset that offsets operating costs and dividend obligations without relying on external leverage.

The accumulation has coincided with renewed strength in the ETH/BTC ratio, which turned sharply higher as capital rotated toward Ethereum. Bitmine chairman Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, argued that the move reflects large investors beginning to price in Ethereum's real-world utility rather than pure speculation. Lee pointed to rising visibility of network “use cases” as the driver, contending that persistent skepticism around ETH is fading as institutional players reassess the asset. The ratio's climb is significant because it measures Ethereum's performance directly against Bitcoin, and a sustained uptrend historically signals broader appetite for higher-beta crypto exposure.

The aggressive buying has come at a steep unrealized cost. Bitmine accumulated much of its ETH at an average price above $3,300, and with ETH trading in the $1,740 to $1,800 range as of July 6, the company's paper loss has widened past the $9 billion to $10 billion band. Management has signaled no change in strategy despite the drawdown. Critically, the firm's disclosure indicates it carries no debt, with dividend payments and expenses covered by staking revenue rather than borrowing. That structure insulates Bitmine from forced selling, meaning the paper loss does not translate into liquidation pressure unless the treasury model itself is abandoned.

Lee also tied Ethereum's improving outlook to pending U.S. legislation, framing the proposed Clarity Act as a potential turning point for the asset's regulatory status. Under his reading, the framework could formally recognize ETH as a digital commodity supervised by the CFTC, easing the overhang from prior SEC scrutiny and reducing long-running classification uncertainty. He underscored that the Ethereum network already underpins real payment flows, citing its use by companies such as Visa and Shopify for stablecoin-style USDC settlement. That utility argument, Lee suggested, is what distinguishes the current institutional interest from earlier speculative cycles.

The Ethereum accumulation narrative has unfolded alongside contrasting moves elsewhere in the corporate-treasury space. In the same window, Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for roughly $216 million, a transaction that reignited debate over how the largest balance-sheet holders are positioning across the two leading assets. The divergence — one major treasury adding aggressively to ETH while another trims Bitcoin — has sharpened questions about capital rotation between the two coins. On-chain data and corporate filings together suggest institutions are increasingly willing to treat Ethereum and Bitcoin as distinct allocation decisions rather than a single directional crypto trade, a shift that reinforces the ETH/BTC ratio's recent strength.

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the $1,806.98 resistance at 67/100, driven by the confluence of the SMA 50 and EMA 50 alongside the prior-day high, with a stronger cluster at $1,866.42 scoring 63/100 on Keltner Upper and Ichimoku Senkou B. On the downside, our engine grades the $1,708.95 support at 81/100 — the strongest read on the board — anchored by a Fibonacci 0.214 retracement and Ichimoku Kijun. Derivatives lean cautiously bullish: perp funding sits at 0.0025% with $6.85 billion in open interest and a 1.75 long/short ratio (63.6% long). Yet with the Fear & Greed Index at 24 (Extreme Fear) and price still in a broader downtrend, a daily close below $1,708 would invalidate the bullish thesis and open the $1,656 support.