Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), the largest Ethereum treasury company, purchased 10,399 ether ($ETH) last week, Chairman Tom Lee said, pointing to ether's strongest monthly outperformance against the Nasdaq 100 in a year as evidence that the cryptocurrency sector is recovering.

The acquisition, valued at approximately $19.1 million at ETH's current price of $1,840, brought Bitmine's total holdings to nearly 5.8 million ETH — roughly 4.8% of Ethereum's circulating supply — making it one of the largest known concentrations of ether in any single corporate treasury. The figure was disclosed in the company's Monday update. The purchase was broadly consistent with the prior week's 9,946 ETH acquisition, extending Bitmine's unbroken streak of weekly ether buys since it adopted its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025.

Alongside the crypto purchase, Bitmine repurchased 4.5 million shares of its common stock, bringing total recent buybacks to 16 million shares.

The announcement coincided with disclosure from Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, that it had sold an additional 1,638 BTC — worth approximately $105 million — from its treasury. Strategy simultaneously repurchased $81.2 million of its STRC preferred stock and raised $290 million through common share sales. The contrasting moves — Bitmine accumulating ether while Strategy trimmed bitcoin — illustrate how publicly traded companies are pursuing divergent crypto treasury approaches within the same market environment.

Lee connected Bitmine's outlook to ether's relative strength against technology stocks.

"In July, $ETH outperformed the Nasdaq 100 by 2,500 basis points," Lee said in the statement. "This is the largest outperformance since July 2025, and we believe it is reflective of the strengthening fundamentals of crypto."

He noted that the last time ETH posted comparable monthly outperformance — in July 2025 — the world's second-largest cryptocurrency rallied from approximately $2,375 to over $4,000 by the end of the following month. Lee also argued that strong relative performance by ether has historically preceded gains in Bitmine's stock since the company shifted to its Ethereum treasury strategy.

As of August 2, Bitmine's crypto, cash, and marketable securities totaled $11.3 billion. Beyond its ETH holdings, the company owns 209 bitcoin, $173 million in cash and marketable securities, and equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.

The company has staked 4.9 million ETH, representing approximately 85% of its holdings, and projects annualized staking revenue of roughly $247 million through its MAVAN staking platform. Ethereum's proof-of-stake design, in place since the network's Merge transition in September 2022, enables holders to earn yield by locking tokens to help secure the network — a structural feature that Bitcoin's proof-of-work system does not provide and one that underpins the economics of Ethereum-focused treasury strategies.

Bitmine shares declined 2.1% in premarket trading as ether dipped over the weekend to $1,842.

Source: CryptoNewsNet | CoinDesk