BitMine Immersion Technologies now holds 5,847,611 ether, a 4.79% stake of the entire supply — a bigger share of Ethereum than MicroStrategy has of Bitcoin. The position was built in 14 months with weekly purchases funded by common stock, and Chairman Tom Lee says the company can reach the 5% mark by the end of 2026.
The stock-funded build
BitMine started buying ether on June 30, 2025, and hasn't stopped. It used common stock to finance the purchases, not debt or convertible notes. That's a notable choice: it avoided interest payments but diluted shareholders. The result is a treasury that now outpaces MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings as a percentage of supply — 4.79% for BitMine versus 4.19% for MicroStrategy.
The 251,000-token gap
A true 5% ownership requires about 6.1 million ether. BitMine is roughly 251,000 tokens short — worth approximately $620 million at current prices. Lee said the company needed about $350 million worth of ETH to hit the goal, but that was at a lower price. Ether has risen sharply since then, so the gap has widened in dollar terms even though the token count hasn't changed. The timing isn't great, but the company has been adding steadily.
Staking that pays the dividend
BitMine has staked 5.07 million ether, which generates about $330 million a year. That's roughly 12% of all staked ether on the network. The yield covers the dividend on BitMine's preferred stock — BMNP, a 9.5% preferred issued at $80 against a $100 liquidation value. The staking income is what keeps that dividend flowing without digging into the treasury.
A moving target
Ethereum's supply isn't fixed. In the past 30 days it grew by 85,893 ether, bringing the total to 121.98 million. That means BitMine has to outpace new issuance just to hold its percentage. The company also launched its validator arm, MAAM, in March 2025, and helped anchor three groups spun out of the Ethereum Foundation. Lee has said ether could exceed $10,000, citing tokenization and AI as drivers. For now, the next milestone is the 5% target. The company is short by a quarter-million tokens, and the supply keeps growing. Whether it gets there by December depends on how fast BitMine buys and how quickly new ether enters circulation.
