On August 4 BitMine staked 150,120 ETH (~$278M), taking its total staked to 5,067,309 ETH (~$9.38B), equal to 87.4% of the company’s holdings. The move, executed through BitMine’s MAVAN validator network, is a large institutional crypto staking bet on Ethereum PoS and adoption amid recent Ethereum ETF inflows, though locking nearly 90% of the treasury raises liquidity and market-exposure risk if sentiment turns.

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In Brief

Tom Lee's BitMine staked 150,120 more ETH worth $278 million hours ago.
BitMine's total staked ETH position hit 5.07 million tokens, 87.4% of holdings.
The scale suggests BitMine is betting long term on Ethereum's proof-of-stake network.

Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies staked another 150,120 Ethereum (ETH) tokens, worth roughly $278 million. The move deepens one of the largest corporate bets on Ethereum’s proof-of-stake network.

Blockchain analytics account Lookonchain flagged the transaction hours after it happened on August 4. It lifts BitMine’s total staked ETH to 5,067,309 tokens, worth about $9.38 billion. That figure equals 87.4% of the company’s entire ether stack.

Why Staking This Much Signals Conviction

Staking locks tokens into Ethereum’s validator network instead of leaving them idle in a wallet. Validators earn rewards for helping secure the chain. In exchange, they accept withdrawal queues and full price exposure for as long as the tokens stay locked.

A company that stakes nearly nine-tenths of its holdings is not hedging. It is committing to hold the position for years rather than trade around short-term price swings.

Tom Lee(@fundstrat)'s #Bitmine staked another 150,120 $ETH($278M) 3 hours ago.In total, #Bitmine has staked 5,067,309 $ETH($9.38B), 87.4% of its total holdings.https://t.co/f70iddoJZ2 pic.twitter.com/8uSZCIJAtT
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 4, 2026

BitMine runs its staking through the Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), an institutional platform the company built to generate yield on its own Ethereum treasury. It eventually plans to open MAVAN to outside clients too.

An Ethereum ‘Supercycle’

Chairman Tom Lee, who also co-founded research firm Fundstrat, has repeatedly framed the buildup as a wager on a multiyear “supercycle” for Ethereum.

The timing fits a broader institutional tilt toward ether. Ethereum ETFs recently posted their best month since October 2025, even as Bitcoin funds kept bleeding assets. BitMine’s own stock has rallied on the strategy, as investors reward the treasury bet.

Staking nearly 90% of a multibillion-dollar position leaves little room to reverse course quickly if sentiment turns. Ethereum needs to keep attracting institutional demand for that bet to pay off. BitMine has staked its balance sheet on exactly that outcome.

Read the article at BeInCrypto