Editor's Note:

As of August 25, 2025, BitMine's Ethereum holdings have reached 1,713,899 ETH, with a total investment of approximately $6.585 billion. The overall average holding cost is around the $3,840-$3,950 range. (The author's estimate based on current public data, actual data subject to BitMine's official disclosure)
In the most recent week (August 25), the company further increased its holdings by approximately 190,500 ETH at a price close to $4,808/ETH.
Overall, BitMine has adopted a "gradual push-up" accumulation strategy. Although the latest purchase price is nearing an all-time high, the dilution of early low-level chips has kept the overall average cost below $4,000.

The following is a deep article published by BlockBeats on August 12, providing an in-depth analysis of BitMine from different perspectives.

Initially, no one would have expected that the "throne" of Ethereum corporate holdings would change hands within 35 days.

Tom Lee-led company BitMine achieved it: this company, which was once an unknown small-cap on the Nasdaq, pulled its ETH holdings from zero to 830,000 through a PIPE financing and three rounds of structured accumulation, completing a dramatic comeback against SharpLink and becoming the world's largest ETH treasury.

This is not just a numerical victory but a battle of two different capital lineages - SharpLink, representing the "OG of the crypto industry," accumulating coins slowly and waiting for the price to rise; BitMine, representing "Wall Street power," cashing out during the pump. Low cost and high leverage, hoarding mentality and Narrative strategy, underpin a head-on clash of two worldviews.

The difference between them lies not only in how they buy coins but in seizing an answer to a question: in the next stage of crypto finance, who has the right to define the ETH "price"?

We attempt, from various perspectives, to understand this silently occurring yet sufficiently intense industry shift.

Why are there two lineages of ETH?

If BitMine represents a Wall Street-style structural blitz, then SharpLink's presence precisely extends the logic of "ETH natives."

The divide between these two companies lies not only in holding pace, disclosure methods, and Narrative strategy but, more importantly, in what they represent: two fundamentally different origins and purposes.

SharpLink——The OG Coin Holder, held onto coins for too long, moved too slowly. Breaking down SharpLink's shareholder lineup, it almost covers the entire capital chain of the Ethereum ecosystem.

The first type is the pure-blood camp: Consensys (founded by ETH co-founder Joseph Lubin) controls core infrastructure such as MetaMask, Infura, etc., with Lubin himself serving as the Chairman of the SharpLink board. The second type is the infrastructure camp: Pantera, Arrington, Primitive, etc., deeply involved in Layer2, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain facilities. The third type is the financialization camp: Galaxy Digital, GSR, Ondo Finance, etc., directly operating in ETH's institutional, derivatives, and custody businesses, making their holdings a manageable and appreciable institutional asset.

This capital bundling not only amplifies SharpLink's "ETH Treasury" narrative but also provides resource leverage for its buying, staking, unwinding, and other processes, becoming a bridge for Wall Street to understand ETH.

The early ETH holding structure also reflects this "OG nature": originating from team wallet internal transfers rather than the open market; a relatively small one-time purchase size but an extremely long distribution period; emphasis on security, liquidity management, and auditing cooperation.

According to financial reports and on-chain estimates, SharpLink's ETH acquisition cost is concentrated in the $1,500–$1,800 range, with some early holdings costing even less than $1,000. Hence, the "Hodler faction" accounts for a very high percentage in its shareholder structure, so if the price returns to around $4,000, a natural sell-off would not be unexpected.

Moreover, as early as June 12, SharpLink submitted a document called S-ASR, with the core content being that once this registration takes effect, the stock can immediately be sold.

This approach is not wrong, but it inherently brings three problems: The OG team's "Hodler" mentality makes them more focused on the cost-benefit ratio, so once the price surges, it may trigger a liquidation impulse; the closed-loop and cautious information flow under the OG network is less inclined to actively play the Narrative card; prioritizing on-chain operations, however, makes them appear lagging in financial reporting efficiency, capital market operations, etc.

This is precisely the deep reason why in the third quarter of 2025, facing BitMine's rhythmic "Disclosure—Financing—Positioning—Price Increase" strategy, SharpLink appears to be half a step slow.

Vitalik Buterin Image Source: coingecko

In contrast, BitMine almost descended onto the ETH track in a "typical Wall Street capital entry" posture. First, the PIPE financing structure itself is full of financial engineering implications: adopting a cash + warrant + ETH combination subscription structure; participants include mainstream US stock structure investors such as Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Founders Fund, etc.; transparent chip distribution, setting a lock-up period, conducive to a stable valuation model.

We can also get a glimpse of the backgrounds of its board members—many of them come from investment banks, private equity, hedge funds, familiar with PIPE financing, compliance arbitrage, and refinancing cycle operations. In their eyes, ETH is not a "digital currency" but a new type of financial asset that is "priceable, tradable, and monetizable".

The difference between OG and Wall Street is not just a difference in rhythm but also a conflict of motives.

This forced Sharplink to start thinking, is OG's ETH alone not enough?

They seem to have provided a new answer to this question—starting from August 7, they introduced new Wall Street institutional investors to participate in their $200 million registered direct issuance.

This is a "power transition" in the Ethereum narrative: from the hands of OG, gradually shifting to the hands of capital that can explain financial reports, tell a good story, and run through structures.

The future may not necessarily be dominated by BitMine alone, but it can be foreseen that the next round of ETH pricing dominance will no longer be determined by the OGs of the crypto world, but by those who hold the narrative structure, who can obtain more Wall Street financing, and who will have more "narrative chips".

How to Seize the Throne of ETH Dominance in 35 Days?

On July 1, 2025, BitMine's ETH holdings were zero; by August 5, their disclosed holdings had reached 833,137 coins. In just 35 days, this company, which previously had no crypto label in the public market, transformed from an "unknown" to the "world's largest Ethereum treasury company," surpassing SharpLink.

Let's break down in detail what BitMine did.

BitMine's moves were highly precise. During its 35-day surge period, almost every 7 days, there was a rhythmic announcement disclosure, each time advancing the plot like a premeditated script: Week 1 (July 1 to July 7): $2.5 billion PIPE financing landed, publicly disclosed completion of the initial purchase of approximately 150,000 ETH; Week 2 (July 8 to July 14): Additional purchase of 266,000 ETH, total holdings exceeded 560,000 coins; Week 3 (July 15 to July 21): Additional purchase of 272,000 ETH, total holdings reached over 830,000 coins;

This three-round disclosure did not follow the routine updates in quarterly reports, but instead inserted clear signals to the market through media, official website, investor relations letters, etc.: "We are continuously buying a large amount of ETH, and we are the leader in institutional holdings growth."

This approach subverted the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies in the past of "waiting for the financial report to come out," and instead shifted to a "Narrative-led" rhythmic offensive.

More importantly, its accumulation rhythm was highly coordinated with the market trend. BitMine's buying average price was not a blind sweep, but it utilized a market adjustment window to "follow the rhythm" and accumulate at lower levels. According to PIPE filings, its average ETH purchase price was $3,491, precisely avoiding the phase high points, while also stepping into the sensitive range before ETH entered a new uptrend channel.

This precise positioning was not accidental but rather coordinated with Galaxy Digital's full set of tools, including "OTC structure design + on-chain delivery + custody settlement," enabling it to efficiently absorb large amounts of ETH without causing significant price fluctuations.

Meanwhile, BitMine's stock price also experienced explosive growth concurrent with its disclosure. Starting from $4 in early July to $41 in early August, a surge of over 900%. Its total market value also skyrocketed from under $200 million to over $30 billion.

More notably, after BitMine released each position update, not only did its stock price rise, but the ETH spot market also saw a simultaneous increase in trading volume and price. The market began to see "BitMine buy-in—ETH price rise" as a set of logically related events, further reinforcing the Narrative loop.

This "market expectation—structural disclosure—asset purchase—price feedback" positive cycle is seen by Wall Street as a typical case of market value reshaping. However, it not only reshaped the company's valuation but also reshaped the market dominance of the ETH treasury in a Narrative manner.

BitMine is no longer just a hodling company; it is becoming a key hub of the "Ethereum institutional structure." In this process, it does not wait for market recognition but actively "manufactures" recognition through rhythm, disclosure, narrative, structure, and pricing models.

In summary: This is not a "wait for the price to rise" accumulation, but a "force the price up" structure.

From nothing to something, from buying coins to boosting valuation, from disclosure to leading pricing, BitMine has set a template for "structural growth" in 35 days.

And it could also be the earliest financial prototype in the next Ethereum bull market narrative.

Tom Lee: The New Maestro

As the co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee is one of the most influential figures bridging the gap between the stock market and the crypto market. He understands both macro data and media manipulation, but most importantly, he knows how to present the narrative of "bull run" in a convincing and appealing way.

His fame comes not from precise predictions, but from high frequency, strong narratives, and a strong position. The popular saying goes: "Tom Lee may not always be right, but he always says it early, says it loudly, and says it in a way that you remember."

His most representative tool is the Bitcoin Misery Index (BMI) — a "market sentiment index" designed by himself, which quantifies the market's "misery index" by combining data such as trading volume, returns, and volatility.

The greatest significance of this index is not to predict price movements, but to provide "data endorsement" for his bullish statements. For example: when the BMI is extremely low (<27), he would say "This is the bottoming time for long-term holders"; when the BMI is extremely high (>80), he would instead say "This represents the arrival of a structural bull market"; if the price drops, he would say "Sentiment has not been fully released"; if the price rises, he would say "On-chain structure is stabilizing."

Regardless of price movements, he always has something to say; no matter how the market is doing, he can always be bullish.

Tom Lee Image Source: coingape

Tom Lee's "structured bullish calls" style also has several distinctive features.

Always provide a new target price. He once predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin "will hit $250,000 by 2022," then in 2021 revised it to "targeting $200,000 by 2024"; when the market performs poorly, he would reference factors such as halving cycles, inflation adjustments, and Fed policies to "postpone" expectations while upgrading the logic.

Platform synergy + frequent appearances. He is a regular guest on CNBC's "Fast Money" and a fixed commentator on Bloomberg; his own Twitter (@fundstrat) is updated almost daily, with synchronized YouTube interviews, using short video summaries and charts to convey his views; he also regularly updates chart-based data summaries on the Fundstrat website for media re-quotation.

Emotion drives retail investors, while narrative drives institutions. Retail investors listen to his call for the bottom; institutions listen to his talk about structure. He can, within the same model, create psychological expectations suitable for different groups of people, forming a "nested Multi-Narrative." For example, he has repeatedly emphasized the "institutional buying window" during a price crash, while also urging retail investors not to miss the opportunity to "get on board before the halving."

He has transitioned from being a predictor to a belief manufacturer. He doesn't just say "it will rise"; he will tell you that "the rise is structurally sound," "ETH will become the new anchor of tech stocks," "BTC is the new generation of digital gold." He has transformed the "outcome-oriented" bullish calls into an "belief-oriented" asset revaluation.

In the construction of the Ethereum narrative in 2024–2025, Tom Lee once again becomes a key driver. He doesn't just say ETH will rise; he says, "ETH will become part of the corporate balance sheet," a view that directly provides public opinion for Narrative-driven operations like BitMine.

During BitMine's rise, we can almost see the deep shadow of Tom Lee's rhetoric logic: measuring fundamentals with "structure indicators" such as ETH-per-share; explaining the rationale for rapid price increases with "cycle logic"; masking aggressive strategies behind high-cost buy-ins with "institutional entry."

Tom Lee is definitely the king of Narrative; he doesn't rely on being right but on being impactful.

Epilogue

In traditional financial markets, asset prices are determined by profitability and cash flow; but in today's crypto asset world, price often exists before value, and narrative often drives valuation formation.

The rise of BitMine is not just a change in the ETH number on the corporate balance sheet but a narrative reconstruction around "how to make institutions understand ETH." SharpLink adheres to old logic, slowly accumulating coins on-chain; BitMine, on the other hand, following the beat of structure and emotion, rapidly completes a "consensus turnover."

It's not a matter of who is more honest but a matter of who can more quickly, clearly, and structurally articulate "crypto assets" as "financial assets."

Behind this, another round of a larger Narrative race is quietly brewing: who will be the "long-term valuation anchor" for ETH on Wall Street? Who will build the next mainstream model of "ETH-per-share"? Who can turn the narrative of liquidity into structural income? Who will ultimately become the next dominant player in institutional pricing discourse?

The market will provide the answer. But one thing is certain: This round of the Ethereum treasury battle is no longer just a relay baton of on-chain faith.

The pricing of the Ethereum ceiling now belongs not to the earliest ETH bulls, but to the Wall Street capital that tells the best story.

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