TLDR
- BitMine holds 4.24M ETH now worth $9.6B, down from $14B in October
- BitMine bought 40,000 ETH before ETH’s latest price decline
- The firm expects $164M in annual ETH staking revenue
- Tom Lee says the $6.6B ETH loss is part of BitMine’s long-term strategy
BitMine Immersion Technologies is facing over $6.6 billion in unrealized ether (ETH) losses, yet its chairman, Tom Lee, says the drawdown was expected. Designed to hold and stake ETH over the long term, the company’s strategy is being tested amid a broader market downturn, but its leadership insists the losses are part of the plan, not a failure of it.
BitMine Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Paper Loss
BitMine Immersion Technologies is reporting over $6.6 billion in unrealized losses from its ether (ETH) holdings. The company currently holds 4.24 million ETH, valued at around $9.6 billion, down from nearly $14 billion just a few months ago.
The decline follows a recent drop in ether’s market price, which was worsened by BitMine’s purchase of over 40,000 ETH shortly before the downturn. The large position has drawn attention, but Chairman Tom Lee says the loss is not unexpected. According to Lee, the strategy behind BitMine was always to mirror ETH’s performance and benefit over the long term.
Strategy Focused on Long-Term ETH Accumulation
Tom Lee responded to critics through a series of posts on social platform X. He compared BitMine’s approach to an index-style product that performs over the market cycle rather than relying on short-term trading. “Crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down,” Lee wrote. He added that “paper losses are not a bug — it’s a feature.”
These tweets miss the point of an ethereum treasury:
– BitMine is designed to track the price of $ETH
– outperform over the cycle (think up ETH)
– crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down$BMNR will see “unrealized” losses on our holdings of ETH during these times:
-… https://t.co/VpoNjAnJdC— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) February 3, 2026
BitMine has explained that it is not trying to time the market. Instead, it operates as a long-term treasury vehicle with a focus on ETH accumulation and staking. This structure makes the company similar to bitcoin-focused treasury firms that accept volatility in exchange for long-term asset exposure.
Staking Income Offers Some Support
BitMine has previously estimated that it will earn around $164 million per year through staking ETH. However, that income provides only limited cushioning during large market downturns.
With the ETH price falling, the total value of its holdings has dropped sharply, affecting the company’s reported balance sheet.
Large holdings like BitMine’s can also lead to bigger swings in value during periods of low market liquidity or forced selling in derivatives markets. The firm remains exposed to these risks but says this is expected within its strategy.
Lee Maintains Confidence in Ethereum’s Future
Tom Lee emphasized that the company remains committed to its view that Ethereum will play a key role in the future of finance.
He acknowledged that the crypto sector is still going through a deleveraging phase, which may continue into early 2026. Despite the losses, the firm has no plans to change its ETH-focused approach.
“Ethereum is the future of finance,” the company said in a statement. The firm’s structure, according to Lee, is built to weather full market cycles, and unrealized losses during downturns are part of that design.
