Tom Lee Says ‘Stay Tuned’ As Bitmine Nears 5% Ethereum Goal, Hints At What’s Next

Tom Lee-backed Bitmine now holds 4.9% of the supply of all the Ethereum in circulation.

• Tom Lee said on Thursday that Bitmine reached its 5% ETH goal years ahead of schedule.
• Lee hinted at a new long-term target but declined to disclose specifics.
• The company says plans will balance Ethereum ecosystem support and shareholder value.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) Chairman Tom Lee said that the company was close to owning 5% of all Ethereum (ETH) and told investors to "stay tuned" for what comes next, stopping short of naming a new target.

Speaking on the Coinage podcast on Thursday, Lee explained that the 5% goal had arrived years ahead of schedule. He said that Bitmine had set that level because it was a quantity of ETH large enough "to have a positive influence on the Ethereum ecosystem," funded in part by staking yields. 

The company had expected it to take five years, but he said that, "We're only 1.2 years into it, but I think we're pretty close to reaching that 5% target now," Lee said.

When Lee was asked whether the next goal of BMNR was owning 10% of Ethereum, he explained that the company had spent recent months "in consultation with the foundation, a lot of stakeholders in crypto, actually a lot of companies too, and some regulators." He said the objectives would not change, naming a beneficial impact on the Ethereum ecosystem and maximizing shareholder value.

Treasury Nears 5% Mark

This comes as Bitmine made a fresh ETH purchase over the past week. The firm held 5,983,940 ETH as of the day before, or about 4.9% of the 122.1 million ETH in supply. The company described that as 98% of the way to what it calls the "Alchemy of 5%," reached in 15 months. It said 5,067,309 ETH were staked, and put its combined crypto, cash, and marketable securities at just over $17 billion.

Lee also defended the company's returns against the token it held. He said Bitmine beat Ethereum by about 45 percentage points from June 30 to year-end last year, and by roughly 13 points this year. The stock now trades at close to the value of what it holds. 

BMNR’s price closed down over 1% on Friday, with a market cap of about $16.6 billion. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BMNR remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter around it shifted to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ over the past day.

Signals Of A Shift

Lee has hinted before that Bitmine's purchases go beyond Ethereum. He said in May that the company could slow its Ethereum purchases for "other things" in crypto, and it has previously funded share buybacks by easing off ETH accumulation.

Ethereum’s price was also down by 1% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits Ethereum was the top trending ticker. Retail sentiment around ETH remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

BMNR stock has been up over 1% so far this year, down over 44% in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, ETH has been down over 9% so far this year, down over 33% in the last 12 months. 

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