BitMine nears 5% Ethereum threshold, yet stock valuation rules dictate its next move

Ethereum treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies said on Sept. 28 that it held 6,001,302 ETH, leaving it 103,698 tokens short of its goal of owning 5% of Ethereum's supply, based on the company's latest supply estimate.

Buying that remainder at BitMine's Sept. 27 reference price would cost about $279.8 million. The company reported $672 million in cash and marketable securities on the same date.

The estimated purchase cost is roughly 42% of that reported pool. Completing the goal looks affordable on paper, though ETH's price and supply can change and BitMine has not earmarked the money for that purpose.

The closer the company gets to its target, the more consequential its next choice becomes: keep adding ETH, preserve liquidity, buy back shares, or build income from the tokens it already owns.

BitMine said it acquired 17,362 ETH in the latest week, about 37% fewer than the 27,562 ETH it reported for the week before. It says it has bought ETH every week since starting the strategy in June 2025.

In July, the company repurchased about 5.5 million BMNR shares at an average price of $15.6156, roughly $85.9 million in total, while buying 7,430 ETH that week. Chairman Tom Lee said the reduced ETH buying pace reflected the share repurchase.

That precedent shows management has weighed its stock against more ETH, though the July decision does not determine its next one.

A Sept. 24 DWF Labs study found that only four of the 20 largest digital asset treasury companies by assets under management in its sample traded above one times the value of their crypto holdings, a ratio called mNAV.

Issuing shares at a premium can finance token buying without the same dilution pressure. DWF expects management and capital structure to matter more as such premiums fade.

The finding shows why the market price of a treasury company's stock is key to any plan to keep acquiring crypto after a stated target is reached.

Although BitMine is not facing an apparent cash shortage at its reported reference price, the issue is whether its next use of capital does more for shareholders than another ETH purchase.

What the existing Ethereum position can earn

BitMine said it had 5,067,309 ETH staked as of Sept. 27, about 84% of its holdings. The company projects $358 million in annualized staking revenue at that balance and $424 million in annualized rewards if it fully stakes its ETH, using a 2.62% yield measured over seven days.

BitMine also says its MAVAN staking platform has expanded to serve institutions, custodians and partners. For now, the quantified alternative to the accumulation tally is the company's projected yield from staking its own reserve.

Lee had already signaled a gradual approach to the 5% threshold and more spending on staking, infrastructure and Ethereum-related investments in July. Crossing 5% would bring more attention to whether ETH per share, staking returns, cash retained, or BMNR repurchases will best explain the value of its next allocation.

Lee is scheduled to speak at Korea Blockchain Week on Sept. 30, and his keynote is titled “Ethereum's Wall Street Moment.”

That is when investors may get a clearer answer. For now, BitMine has shown it can afford to finish the 5% goal at its price assumptions, while its plan for the capital that follows remains less defined.