BitMine Immersion Technologies is a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company, and in the past week, its Ethereum (ETH) holdings have increased to 1.52 million coins, worth up to $6.6 billion. This trend reflects a resurgence of interest within the Ethereum ecosystem.
However, as BitMine increases its Ethereum holdings, its stock price has fallen by 14.2%. BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee stated that the company increased its holdings because institutional investors have shown interest in its growth strategy.
A spokesperson for BitMine stated that Ethereum is seen as a platform for Wall Street to build 21st-century banking and payment systems, and the company benefits from this. According to industry tracker Strategic ETH Reserve, BitMine is now the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, controlling 1.3% of the total supply.
In the past two months, BitMine and SharpLink have been fiercely competing to increase their Ethereum holdings. BitMine plans to raise $24.5 billion through market stock sales to buy more Ethereum, while SharpLink has raised $389 million.
The popularity of Ethereum is linked to ETF inflows and upward price forecasts.
The Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) has sparked investor enthusiasm, with massive trading volumes. Standard Chartered predicts that by 2025, the price of Ethereum will reach $7,500, up from a previous forecast of $4,000. The price increase is also attributed to increased institutional purchases and accelerated adoption of stablecoins.
The Pectra upgrade of Ethereum has improved user experience, and since the upgrade on May 7, the price of Ethereum has risen by 139%.
