Tom Lee's Bitmine staked another 159,728 ETH, worth about $390.6 million. The move lifts the share of its holdings put to work to 86.5%, and leaves the company about 63,500 ETH short of its 5% supply target.
Onchain analysts reported on Oct. 21 that Bitmine had staked another 159,728 ETH, worth about $390.6 million. The transaction takes the company's staked position to 5.23 million ETH, valued near $12.78 billion, or 86.5% of its holdings.
Bitmine nears its 5% supply goal
As of Oct. 19, Bitcoin.com News reported the company held a total of 6,041,481 ETH after buying 12,535 ETH that week, with 5,067,309 ETH already staked as of Oct. 18. Adding the latest batch puts the staked figure at about 5.227 million, matching Lookonchain's count.
That is roughly 4.9% of ether's 122.1 million circulating supply, about 63,500 ETH short of the 5% target Lee has set for the company. Ether itself is currently trading near $2,443, up about 1.4% on the day, which values Bitmine's ether at roughly $14.8 billion.
Why stake now
Bitmine estimated in an Oct. 19 update that annualized staking rewards would reach about $309 million at its prior staked level, and $369 million if the full treasury were staked. At that rate, the new 159,728 ETH alone should add roughly $10 million a year in rewards.
Lee blamed the recent crypto dip on AI funding worries, U.S.-Iran tensions, midterm uncertainty and rising bond yields. Earlier this month he called the bottom in and predicted the biggest bull market yet.
Liquidity and concentration trade-offs
Staked ether is not instantly liquid. Unstaking means joining Ethereum's validator exit queue, which lengthens when many holders try to leave at once, so Bitmine trades slower access to its ether for yield if it ever needs to sell.
The size of the position also matters for the network. At 5.23 million ETH, a single company's choice of validators and staking providers now carries real weight for Ethereum.
Not every institution is leaning in. Vaneck recently pulled its Lido staked ether exchange-traded fund before its scheduled launch last week.
Source: Bitcoin News
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