BitMine pushes Ethereum stash above 833,000 ETH, Bill Miller and ARK Invest become shareholders

BitMine ETH treasury blows past $3 billion

BitMine said it grew its Ethereum treasury to 833,137 ETH, worth about $3 billion over the past week. The move has widened its lead as the largest publicly-traded ETH treasury vehicle.

The company achieved the feat in roughly a month after launching its ETH treasury through the initiation of a $250 million private placement, which closed on July 8. Since then, it has announced a $1 billion stock repurchase program, including an intention to acquire 5% of the total ETH supply, dubbed "the alchemy of 5%."

"BitMine moved with lightning speed in its pursuit of the 'alchemy of 5%' of ETH, growing our ETH holdings to over 833,000 from zero, 35 days ago," said Fundstrat's Thomas Lee, Chairman of BitMine's Board of Directors, in a press release on Monday. "We have separated ourselves among crypto treasury peers by both the velocity of raising crypto NAV [net asset value] per share and by the high liquidity of our stock."

The company also claims to hold one of the largest crypto treasuries in the world, combined with a rising trading volume of its stock.

Miller Value Partners founder and senior advisor Bill Miller revealed that it is one of the top investors in BitMine's stock, joining the likes of Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. In an X post on Monday, ARK Invest said that it holds over 4 million shares of BMNR worth about $140 million via its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), while Founders Fund disclosed a 9.1% stake in the company in July. Miller, who was also an early investor in Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) after its CEO, Michael Saylor, pivoted to a Bitcoin treasury model, shared that BitMine could follow the footsteps of the company, especially "once the company turns on ETH staking."

In addition to BitMine, several public companies have expanded their ETH stash in the past month, including SharpLink Gaming (SBET), which holds 498,000 ETH, The Ether Machine with a 334,000 ETH treasury, and Bit Digital (BTBT) with 120,000 ETH holding. These companies have stated intentions of growing shareholders' ETH per share through capital raises from equity offerings and ETH staking. Since June, ETH treasury vehicles have acquired over 1.86 million ETH, just shy of the 2 million mark.

BitMine shares are changing hands at $32.7, up 3% on Monday, while ETH is trading at $3,680 with a 5% gain over the past 24 hours at the time of writing.