Ethereum Nears $1,800 as Bitmine Adds 76,881 ETH, Risks First-Ever Third Red Quarter

Ethereum News

Ethereum has crossed one million lifetime developers, cementing its position as the largest builder ecosystem across every blockchain network. Consensys co-founder Joseph Lubin highlighted the milestone, linking it to a forecast he delivered at DevCon5 in Osaka back in 2019, when his keynote asked when the network would reach a million developers. Roughly 232,000 of those builders were active over the past year, underscoring that the chain continues to attract fresh entrants rather than merely retain veterans. Lubin also pointed to composability as the next frontier, citing teams pursuing synchronous bridging across layer-2 networks ahead of the Glamsterdam upgrade slated for the third quarter of 2026.

BitMine Immersion Technologies expanded its Ether treasury again last week, acquiring 76,881 ETH even as prices briefly slipped below $1,600 during the bear market. The treasury firm now holds 5,620,754 ETH purchased at an average cost of roughly $1,718, leaving the stack worth about $10.2 billion at current prices. That position sits on an unrealized loss approaching $9 billion, a stark reminder of how far the second-largest token has fallen this cycle. The accumulation pushes BitMine toward its stated target of controlling 5% of Ether’s 120.68 million circulating supply, with the company now holding close to 4.66%. More than 4.1 million ETH is staked to generate ongoing yield.

The latest purchases coincided with the completion of BitMine’s preferred share offering, which raised nearly $274 million earmarked for further ETH accumulation, infrastructure spending and potential common-stock buybacks. The Series A preferred stock, trading under the ticker BMNP with a 9.5% annual dividend paid weekly, was set to debut on Tuesday. Chairman Tom Lee framed the raise as balance-sheet diversification, noting projected annualized staking rewards near $219 million provide recurring cash flow to cover the dividend. Should the firm stake its entire holding through its validator network, it anticipates roughly $269 million in annual staking revenue. BitMine’s common shares climbed more than 6% on the news.

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor argued that Bitcoin does not need staking, inflation or protocol-based yield to reward investors, drawing a sharp contrast with Ethereum’s approach. In a five-layer framework he labeled the Digital Asset Stack, Saylor positioned Bitcoin as pure digital capital underpinning credit, money, yield and equity structures built through capital-markets engineering. He pointed to instruments such as Strategy’s STRC perpetual preferred stock as examples of digital credit designed to dampen Bitcoin’s volatility by sitting above it in the capital structure. Saylor insisted the asset does not need to become Ethereum, casting its sharp price swings as a feature of scarce, globally traded capital rather than a flaw.

On-chain data shows large holders accumulated roughly $950 million in ETH through the recent slide, fueling speculation that a bottom may be forming for the altcoin. The token has rebounded about 22% from its June low and on June 14 closed back above its monthly volume-weighted average price, a level many desks treat as the boundary between accumulation and distribution. Previous reclaims of that line in April and May preceded gains of 19% and 7% respectively. Spot Ether ETFs reinforced the shift, taking in $22.50 million on June 15 after a punishing outflow streak, though rising open interest leaves the question of a confirmed bottom unresolved.

The renewed inflow broke a brutal run for spot Ether ETFs, which had bled on all but two trading days between mid-May and mid-June, with several sessions topping $60 million in net redemptions. The sustained selling weighed heavily on the market as the broader crypto treasury model came under strain from this year’s downturn. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust remains the largest US-listed ETH fund, with net assets near $4.75 billion and exposure to about 2.36% of circulating supply. Even after Monday’s rally, Ether trades more than 63% below its all-time high of $4,946 reached last August, illustrating the depth of the correction.

COINOTAG’s proprietary 42-indicator composite scoring engine (as of 14:24 UTC) rates the $1,926 resistance at 82/100, driven by the confluence of the R3 pivot, the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement, the 50-period EMA and Ichimoku Senkou B, with nearer resistance at $1,827 scoring 74/100 on HVN and Ichimoku Kijun alignment. The strongest support sits at $1,710 (73/100), anchored by the previous day low and a low-volume node. Derivatives skew long, with a 2.24 long/short ratio (69.1% long), positive 0.0046% funding and $6.83 billion in open interest, while the Fear & Greed Index reads 23, or extreme fear. A daily close above $1,926 confirms the bullish case; losing $1,710 invalidates the rebound.