Ethereum news: ETH falling below $1,800 leaves Tom Lee's Bitmine (BMNR) with $8.9 billion paper loss

Bitmine's Ethereum bet nears $9 billion loss as ether falls below $1,800

Shares of Tom Lee's Ethereum treasury firm hit their lowest level since the company's crypto pivot as ETH revisits the February lows.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the largest corporate holder of ether (ETH), is staring at nearly $9 billion in losses as the token's slide below $1,800 drags down the value of its massive treasury.

Shares of the Tom Lee-chaired company fell another 5.9% Wednesday, slipping below $17 and extending their decline to 28% since early May. The stock has now dropped below its February lows to its weakest level since the company announced its pivot to an Ethereum treasury strategy in May 2025.

The selloff comes as ETH retests its February lows. The second-largest cryptocurrency has lost more than 20% since early May, when Lee, Fundstrat's co-founder and BitMine's chairman, argued that the market's "mini crypto winter" had likely ended and a new "crypto spring" had begun.

Under Lee's leadership, Bitmine has amassed more than 5.4 million ETH, or roughly 4.5% of Ethereum's circulating supply, in roughly a year. That position is worth about $10 billion at current prices.

Those holdings, however, are now deeply underwater, carrying an estimated $8.9 billion in unrealized losses, according to data collected by DropsTab.

Digital asset treasuries under pressure

Bitmine's drawdown highlights renewed pressure across the digital asset treasury sector, where companies seek to replicate the playbook pioneered by Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy (MSTR): raise capital through public markets and use the proceeds to accumulate crypto.

That model has become increasingly harder to sustain as crypto prices weakened and many treasury stocks drifted below the value of their underlying assets.

Strategy itself recently disclosed its first bitcoin sale since 2022, sparking debate about how the company might fund future obligations tied to its preferred stock offerings.

Bitmine's situation differs in some key respects. The company financed its ether purchases primarily through equity issuance rather than debt, leaving it without the leverage concerns and interest payments that some treasury peers face.

The company also generates revenue from staking its ETH and operating its staking service MAVAN. Bitmine said it has staked more than 4.7 million ETH — about 87% of its holdings — and recently estimated annualized staking revenue at roughly $276 million.

Lee calls for $250,000 ETH

The recent price action has not tempered Lee's long-term outlook.

Speaking at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris earlier this week, he said ETH could eventually reach $250,000 as tokenization, AI-driven transactions and corporate staking reshape Ethereum's role in the global financial system.

For now, investors appear focused on a more immediate reality. Ether is back near levels last seen during February's selloff, leaving Bitmine's treasury deep underwater and highlighting the gap between Lee's long-term thesis and the market's current view of the asset.