BitMine would now only need an additional $482 million to reach its goal of owning 5% of Ethereum’s total supply, although management is signaling that final purchases will come more slowly.
On July 20, the company revealed that it held 5,777,468 ETH after adding 7,430 tokens over the previous week. The latest purchase cost around $14 million, making it one of BitMine’s smallest weekly allocations to ETH.
Based on BitMine’s estimate of 120.7 million ETH in circulation, a 5% position would equate to 6.035 million tokens, leaving the company 257,532 ETH short of its goal.
This remaining ETH would cost approximately $483.9 million at the $1,879 price BitMine uses to value its holdings. Dollar requirements fluctuate based on the market price of ETH, while the number of tokens needed could also change as Ethereum’s supply increases or contracts.
BMNR buyback takes priority over ETH purchases
The slowdown in ETH purchases came as BitMine spent nearly six times as much buying its own shares.
According to its press release, BitMine repurchased approximately 5.5 million shares of BMNR common stock during the week at an average price of $15.6156, bringing the transaction value to approximately $85.9 million. Combined with its ether purchase, the company deployed nearly $100 million across the two assets.
The buyout was carried out as part of a previously authorized $4 billion program. Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee said the smaller ETH purchase reflected the decision to allocate capital to BitMine stock, which management viewed as beneficial to shareholders.
The company has nonetheless maintained a record ETH purchase every week since the strategy launched on June 30, 2025.
The pace decreased sharply from the previous week, when BitMine purchased 27,801 ETH. Its latest addition was approximately 73% smaller and followed purchases totaling almost 70,000 ETH during the first two weekly reporting periods in July.
Nonetheless, the change is consistent with the guidance Lee gave in his president’s July message. He said BitMine intends to gradually approach the 5% level and does not plan to accelerate beyond this concentration threshold.
Lee cited the ongoing changes around the Ethereum Foundation and said the company wanted to avoid building a position significantly larger than 5% of the network’s supply.
The objective therefore becomes both a ceiling and a milestone. BitMine has completed approximately 95.7% of the required accumulation measured in tokens, leaving less than a quarter of a percentage point of Ethereum’s estimated supply to be acquired.
Rapid Expansion of BitMine Share Count
The decision to repurchase shares also follows a period in which BitMine issued large sums of shares to fund its ETH purchases.
The number of common shares outstanding stood at more than 579.7 million as of May 31, compared to 232.4 million at the end of August 2025, according to the company’s latest quarterly filing. This means the number of shares has more than doubled over the past year to fund its aggressive ETH purchases.
The repurchase of 5.5 million shares only offsets a small part of this expansion. Nonetheless, this indicates that management is now evaluating the market price of BitMine shares against the value of adding more ether.
BitMine said its combination of cryptocurrency, cash, tradable securities and strategic investments was valued at $11.5 billion as of July 19.
In addition to its ETH holdings, the company held 207 BTC, $385 million in cash and tradable securities, a $180 million investment in Beast Industries, and a $58 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
The company remains the largest holding company of ETH going public. Its treasury of digital assets ranks behind Strategy, which held 843,775 BTC valued at around $55 billion.
Staking provides income but not protection against losses
BitMine seeks to generate recurring revenue from the ETH it has accumulated rather than relying entirely on the token’s price increase.
The company revealed that it had staked 4,917,189 ETH, representing approximately 85% of its total ETH holdings. BitMine projects annualized staking revenue of approximately $247 million with a seven-day yield of 2.67%.
He said the annual reward could reach around $290 million once its ETH is fully deployed through the company’s MAVAN staking platform and external staking partners. These estimates remain sensitive to ether prices, validator performance, and changes in Ethereum staking yield.
Staking has already become BitMine’s primary source of operating revenue. For the quarter ended May 31, staking and validation generated $45.7 million, or 98% of the company’s $46.5 million in total revenue.
However, the staking revenue did not translate into a quarterly profit. BitMine recorded a loss of $92.1 million on derivative contracts and posted a net loss of $83.6 million for the period.
These results show both sides of BitMine’s Ethereum strategy as it moves closer to its ownership goal.
Treasury generates income, but its financial performance remains exposed to token prices, stake returns, derivatives positions, and company decisions regarding the issuance or repurchase of shares.
