Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) is sitting on unrealized losses of 7.5 billion USD on its Ethereum holdings. The company holds approximately 4.285 million ETH. This position represents roughly 3.5 percent of the total Ethereum supply.
The average purchase price sits between 3,800 and 3,900 USD per token. At the current price of 2,000 USD, this represents one of the largest open loss positions in financial history. Executive Chairman Tom Lee, co-founder and CIO of Fundstrat Global Advisors, defends the strategy. Meanwhile, the BMNR stock has lost over 88 percent of its value since its peak in July 2025. Still, Bitmine purchased an additional 41,788 ETH for approximately 87 million USD in early February.
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From Bitcoin miner to Ethereum treasury
Bitmine originally operated Bitcoin mining with immersion cooling. On June 30, 2025, Tom Lee assumed the role of Chairman of the Board. Just a few days later, on July 8, 2025, the company executed a radical strategy shift. This private placement of 250 million USD at 4.50 USD per share funded the move into Ethereum accumulation.
The ambitions were large from the start. Under the banner "Alchemy of 5%," Bitmine pursues the goal of controlling 5 percent of the total ETH supply. That amounts to roughly 6 million tokens. In September 2025, a follow-on capital raise of 365 million USD at 70 USD per share followed. Financing comes exclusively through equity issuance, not debt. This structurally differentiates Bitmine from many failed crypto bets of the past.
In just a few months, the company built a position from virtually zero to over 4 million ETH. Investors include Ark Invest, Founders Fund, Galaxy Digital, and Kraken.
Unrealized losses of historic proportions
The numbers place Bitmine's position among the largest trading losses in history. In a hypothetical liquidation, realized losses would land on the level of Jerome Kerviel's derivatives trading at Societe Generale in 2008. That incident resulted in losses of 6.7 billion USD. JP Morgan's "London Whale" debacle in 2012, at 6 billion USD, falls in the same range. The collapse of Archegos Capital Management in 2021, with 10 billion USD in losses, currently tops the list.
However, the comparison frequently circulating on social media falls short on several points. Bitmine's losses are unrealized. There is no debt financing and therefore no risk of forced liquidations through margin calls. At the same time, this is a publicly communicated, long-term strategy, not unauthorized trading.
Ethereum weakness weighs on the balance sheet
Ethereum reached an all-time high of 4,946 USD in August 2025. Since then, the price has fallen by roughly 57 percent. Bitmine bought throughout the entire period, with the average price landing at approximately 3,800 to 3,900 USD. Total investment amounts to an estimated 16 billion USD. Currently, the market value of the holdings sits at around 8 billion USD.
"These tweets miss the point of an Ethereum treasury company. Bitmine is designed to track the price of ETH. Unrealized losses during crypto downturns are not a bug. They are a feature." - Tom Lee, Chairman, Bitmine Immersion Technologies
Bitmine values its total crypto and cash holdings at approximately 9.5 billion USD. Annual staking yields amount to an estimated 164 million USD. For shareholders, however, the picture so far looks dire. The BMNR stock trades near its multi-month low. Those who bought in at the September capital raise at 70 USD are sitting on massive losses.
The MicroStrategy model for Ethereum
Bitmine's approach follows the blueprint of MicroStrategy, which became the largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company under Michael Saylor. Bitmine positions itself as the Ethereum counterpart. Specifically, the company describes itself as the largest Ethereum treasury company globally and the second-largest crypto treasury after MicroStrategy.
Bitcoin has multiplied in value since MicroStrategy's first purchases in 2020. Ethereum, by contrast, trades far below Bitmine's purchase prices. Yet Lee's conviction remains unshaken. On-chain activity and fundamentals have developed solidly over recent months, he stated. ETH prices had fallen despite strong fundamentals.
Whether the strategy pays off depends entirely on the Ethereum price. At an ETH price of 3,800 USD, Bitmine would roughly break even. Lee had previously predicted ETH could reach 12,000 USD by the end of 2025. The market is currently far from that level.
