BitMine (BMNR) Bought 97K in ETH Ahead of Fusaka Upgrade

BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the Ethereum-centric crypto treasury firm helmed by Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee, said on Monday it acquired 96,798 in ether ETH$2,818.32 through last week continuing its buying spree while digital asset treasuries remain under pressure due to falling crypto prices.

The latest purchase lifted the firm’s total ETH holdings to 3.73 million tokens, worth about $10.5 billion at the latest prices, extending its lead as the largest Ethereum treasury company. The firm also holds 192 bitcoin BTC$86,208.60, a $36 million stake in Eightco Holdings (ORBS) and $882 million in cash.

BitMine’s shares were down 7.7% pre-market as ETH plunged 6% overnight to just above $2,800.

Digital asset treasuries, or DATs, are feeling the heat as falling crypto prices and slipping stock valuations have pushed many into retreat. Most have stopped adding to their crypto piles while some have even started selling, aiming to close the gap between their stock price and net asset value.

BitMine remained one of the few firms that kept buying. However, the firm is estimated to be sitting on nearly $4 billion in unrealized losses on its ETH stash.

Upcoming Ethereum upgrade, Fed policy

Thomas Lee, BitMine’s pointed to market conditions and Ethereum’s upcoming network upgrade as key motivators to increase the pace of acquisitions from the previous week. The Fusaka upgrade, expected to activate on December 3, is designed to improve scalability, security and usability on the Ethereum network.

Speaking of the macro context, Lee said that the Federal Reserve is expected to halt quantitative tightening (QT) this month and will likely cut interest rates on the December meeting, while crypto markets stabilized since the October 10th crash.

“Collectively, we see these acting as positive tailwinds for ETH prices and thus, we stepped up our weekly purchases of ETH by 39%,” he said in a statement.