Tom Lee Says Sam Altman, Vitalik Buterin Slated To Attend BMNR AGM – Shareholders Gear Up To Vote On Massive Share Increase

Bitmine’s chairman said that without shareholder approval, the company can’t issue new shares, which means it can’t buy more Ethereum or make any acquisitions.

• Bitmine shareholders are going to vote on the company’s proposal to expand authorized shares from 500 million to 50 billion on Thursday.
• In an interview with Sampro TV, Tom Lee dismissed dilution concerns, stating that Bitmine had never issued shares below net asset value.
• He also hinted that Bitmine may have plans to buy a “financial institution” in the future.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) chairman Tom Lee said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin are slated to attend Thursday’s shareholder vote and annual general meeting.

“We have a great lineup of speakers. We have Vitalik, who is the founder and creator of Ethereum and we have Sam Altman from OpenAI speaking,” he said in an interview with Korean outlet Sampro TV on Wednesday. “We're going to lay out our roadmap for 2026, which includes the four pillars of growth beyond just staking income that'll render growth for Bitcoin.”

BMNR’s stock was down 1.3% in overnight trade ahead of the AGM scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET. Retail sentiment around the company trended in ‘bullish’ territory amid ‘high’ levels of chatter.

Vitalik’s outlook for 2026 was positioned as a “rebellion” against centralized tech giants, and avoid hype like political meme coins. It will be interesting to see his take on a publicly listed company keeping Ethereum in its coffers.

Meanwhile, Altman’s Worldcoin (WLD) project is the primary treasury asset of Eightco (ORBS). BMNR pitched in $20 million during the company’s $270 million strategic fund raise, and the ORBS’ stock is the company’s first ‘moonshot’ investment.

If Shareholders Vote No, The Company Won’t Grow

Lee said the upcoming shareholder vote was pivotal because Bitmine is running out of authorized shares to buy more Ethereum. The company has proposed to increase its authorized shares from 500 million to 50 billion.

Lee said that without shareholder approval, the company can’t issue new shares, which means it can’t buy more Ethereum or make any acquisitions. He positioned it as the company essentially stagnating without a catalyst. “If you don't vote in favor of increasing the shares, the company will stop growing,” he said, noting that for the proposal to pass, it need 50.1% votes.

Ethereum’s price edged 0.3% lower in the last 24 hours, holding ground above $3,300. Retail sentiment around the leading altcoin on Stocktwits dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ over the past day.

Is Bitmine Looking To Acquire Another Crypto DAT?

Lee added that the reason the size of the increase is so large is that the process doesn’t have to be repeated. He said it's a time-consuming and expensive endeavour, which would require another full shareholder campaign if repeated. 

“There's no organic reason to go to 50 billion shares, but for share splits, we're going to need it in the future and we’re going to need it for future acquisitions. We may acquire another financial institution,” he said, hinting that Bitmine may have plans to buy a digital asset treasury (DAT) in the future.

Dilution Is Not A Concern

The primary concern shared on social media around the increase in authorized shares to 50 billion centers on dilution. However, Lee said it's a non-issue. “The only way somebody is diluted is if you issue shares below asset value,” he said. “Bitmine has never issued stocks below investment values. So it has never diluted a single share.”

Lee explained that the management only benefits if the share price rises and issuing stock below the net asset value (NAV), which would hurt management financially. 

The other argument against the proposal has been that BitMine also has the option to wait until BMNR’s share price is higher. Lee called the idea of delaying authorization “a really bad take.” He stated that it could take months for the stock price to be higher and share authorization campaigns are also not instantaneous. In the interim, the cost of repeating a shareholder campaign would add up, and the company would miss growth opportunities due to the delay.

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