Bitmine’s BMNR stock fell as Ethereum losses hit $6.6B. Tom Lee defends the strategy while the firm and investors continue accumulating ETH.
Ethereum ETH $2 253 24h volatility: 1.6% Market cap: $271.87 B Vol. 24h: $46.77 B treasury firm Bitmine has seen its BMNR stock decline sharply amid a broader market downtrend.
Based on the current price of Ethereum, Bitmine now faces roughly $6 billion in unrealized losses.
Chairman Tom Lee defended the firm’s position, pointing to the overall weakness in the market as the primary factor.
Bitmine Stakes More Than 50% of Ethereum Holdings
Data from Yahoo Finance shows that BMNR stock slipped by almost 2% at the close of trading on February 3.
During the pre-market trading session, it also declined by nearly 1%. This outlook is suspected to be connected to the health status of Bitmine’s Ethereum holdings.
With 3.5% of the circulating ETH supply in its stash, valued at $9.9 billion, this firm has recorded more than billions in unrealized losses.
Ethereum has fallen to as low as $2,274 per coin. Bitmine holds a total of 3.7 million ETH as of November 30, purchased for around $15 billion.
At the current price, this holding is worth roughly $8.41 billion, leaving the firm with about $6.6 billion in unrealized losses. The size of these losses has contributed to the decline in BMNR’s stock value.
Tom Lee defended the company’s increasing paper losses, linking it to the crypto crash. He explained that the drawdown had to do with the design of its Ethereum treasury strategy.
These tweets miss the point of an ethereum treasury:
– BitMine is designed to track the price of $ETH
– outperform over the cycle (think up ETH)
– crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down$BMNR will see “unrealized” losses on our holdings of ETH during these times:
-… https://t.co/VpoNjAnJdC— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) February 3, 2026
According to Lee’s explanation, the firm is designed to follow the price of Ethereum and beat it over a market cycle. He clarified that it was not an issue with execution.
Investors Remain Committed to Crypto Accumulation
The twist is that Bitmine is still acquiring more ETH. On January 26, the firm bought 41,788 Ethereum, reiterating its confidence and trust in ETH’s long-term value.
The majority of its ETH holdings are staked. On January 27, it reportedly staked an additional 209,504 ETH, with Lee claiming that Ethereum will make a significant comeback following a massive gold rally.
Many other firms seem to agree with the Bitmine Chairman’s stance, as they keep purchasing more cryptocurrencies.
Investors continue to accumulate Ethereum, with one whale recently buying 33,000 ETH valued at around $76.6 million, along with an additional 250 Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) worth $18.95 million.
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