Editor's note: BitMine recently increased its Ethereum holdings to 1.5 million pieces, with a total scale of about $6.6 billion, temporarily surpassing SharpLink to become the world's largest ETH treasury. However, as ETH declines, the company's stock price is also under pressure. At the same time, captain Tom Lee predicts that the ETH price may first fall to $4,075 and then rebound to $5,100. Thus, a key question arises: why has the pricing power of Ethereum shifted to Wall Street capital? In response, Rhythm BlockBeats has provided a tentative answer in its article on August 12.
Originally, no one would have thought that the 'top seat' of Ethereum enterprise holdings would change hands within 35 days.
Represented by Tom Lee, the company behind BitMine has achieved: this previously obscure small company on NASDAQ, with a PIPE financing and three rounds of structured accumulation, has pulled its ETH holdings from zero to 830,000 pieces, completing a turnaround against SharpLink, becoming the world's largest ETH treasury.
This is not just a numerical victory or defeat, but a confrontation between two different bloodlines of capital - represented by 'crypto circle OG' SharpLink, slowly hoarding coins and waiting for price increases; represented by 'Wall Street power' BitMine, realizing cashing out through price pushes. Low cost and high leverage, hoarding mentality and narrative strategy, are a direct clash of two worldviews.
They not only differ in their methods of buying coins but are also competing for the answer to a question: in the next stage of crypto finance, who has the right to define the 'price' of ETH?
We attempt to understand this quietly occurring yet sufficiently intense industry shift from multiple angles.
Why are there two bloodlines of ETH?
If BitMine represents a structural raid in Wall Street style, then SharpLink's existence is precisely the continuation of the 'ETH native' logic.
The distinctions between these two companies are not only in their holding rhythms, disclosure methods, and narrative strategies, but more importantly: they represent two completely different origins and purposes.
SharpLink - the coins in the hands of OGs have been hoarded for too long and moved too slowly. Breaking down SharpLink's shareholder lineup almost covers the entire chain of capital in the Ethereum ecosystem.
The first category is the original bloodline camp: Consensys (founded by ETH co-founder Joseph Lubin) controls core facilities like MetaMask and Infura, with Lubin serving as the chairman of the SharpLink board. The second category is the infrastructure camp: Pantera, Arrington, Primitive, etc., deeply involved in Layer2, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain facilities. The third category is the financialization camp: Galaxy Digital, GSR, Ondo Finance, etc., directly operating in ETH's institutionalization, derivatives, and custody businesses, making their holdings manageable and appreciating institutional assets.
This capital binding not only amplifies SharpLink's 'ETH treasury' narrative but also provides resource leverage in buying, staking, and reducing holdings, becoming a bridge for Wall Street to understand ETH.
The initial ETH holding structure also reflects this 'OG attribute': sourced from internal transfers within team wallets rather than the public market; the scale of single purchases is relatively small, but the distribution cycle is very long; emphasizing safety, liquidity management, and audit coordination.
According to financial reports and on-chain estimates, SharpLink's ETH acquisition cost range is concentrated between $1,500 - $1,800, with some early holdings even costing less than $1,000. Because of this, the proportion of 'hoarding faction' in its shareholder structure is extremely high, and when the price returns to around $4,000, it would not be unexpected to see natural sell pressure.
Moreover, as early as June 12, SharpLink submitted a document named S-ASR, the core content of which is - once the registration takes effect, the stocks can immediately start selling.
This path is not wrong, but it also naturally brings three issues: the OG team's 'hoarding coins' mentality makes them more focused on cost-benefit ratios; once the coin price surges, it easily triggers a desire to reduce holdings; the information flow under the OG network is more closed and cautious, not inclined to proactively play the narrative card; prioritizing on-chain operations makes them lag behind in reporting efficiency and capital market operations.
This is precisely the deeper reason why, in the third quarter of 2025, SharpLink seemed to lag behind BitMine's rhythmic 'disclosure - financing - increasing holdings - price increase' strategy.
Vitalik Buterin Image source: coingecko
In contrast, BitMine arrived in the ETH track almost in the posture of 'typical Wall Street capital entering the game.' First, the PIPE financing structure itself is filled with financial engineering implications: using a cash + warrant + ETH combination subscription structure; participants include mainstream U.S. stock structured investors like Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Founders Fund; chip distribution is transparent, with a lock-up period set, which is beneficial for stabilizing valuation models.
From the backgrounds of its board members, we can also glimpse clues - many 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 'priceable, tradable, and cashable' financial asset.
Between OG and Wall Street, it is not just a difference in rhythm but a conflict of motives.
This forces Sharplink to start thinking, is just having OG's ETH not enough?
They seem to have provided a new answer to this question - starting on August 7, they introduced new Wall Street institutional investors to participate in its $200 million registered directed offering.
This is a 'power transfer' of the Ethereum narrative: gradually shifting from OG hands to capital that can articulate financial reports, tell good stories, and run structures.
The future may not necessarily belong solely to BitMine, but it is foreseeable that the next round of ETH pricing dominance will no longer be determined by the OGs in the crypto circle but by those who master the narrative structure, who can obtain more Wall Street financing, thus possessing more 'narrative chips.'
How to seize the ETH leading position in 35 days?
On July 1, 2025, BitMine's ETH holdings were zero; on August 5, its disclosed holdings had reached 833,137 pieces. In just 35 days, this company, previously unmarked in the public market, transformed from 'unknown' to 'the world's largest Ethereum treasury company,' overtaking SharpLink.
Let's break down what exactly BitMine is doing?
BitMine's timing in taking action is extremely precise. During its 35-day explosion cycle, there was almost a rhythmic announcement disclosure every 7 days, each one like the advancement of a premeditated script: First week (July 1 - July 7): PIPE financing of $250 million landed, publicly disclosing the completion of the first batch of purchases of about 150,000 ETH; Second week (July 8 - July 14): additional purchase of 266,000 ETH, total holdings exceeded 560,000 pieces; Third week (July 15 - July 21): additional purchase of 272,000 ETH, cumulative holdings reached over 830,000 pieces;
These three rounds of disclosure did not use the routine updates in quarterly reports but instead transmitted clear signals to the market in an insertive manner through media, official websites, and investor relations letters: 'We are continuously buying ETH on a large scale, and we are the leaders in institutional holdings growth.'
This approach subverts the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies that 'wait for financial reports to come out,' and shifts towards a 'narrative-driven' rhythmic offensive.
More importantly, its positioning rhythm is highly coordinated with market trends. BitMine's average buy-in price is not blindly hoarding but rather 'timing the rhythm' to buy low during market adjustment windows. According to PIPE document disclosures, its average buying price of ETH is $3,491, perfectly avoiding peak points while hitting the sensitive range before ETH enters a new rising channel.
This precise layout is not accidental, but is coordinated with the complete tool chain provided by Galaxy Digital, which includes 'OTC structural design + on-chain delivery + custody settlement,' enabling efficient absorption of large amounts of ETH without triggering severe price fluctuations.
At the same time, BitMine's stock price also experienced explosive growth in sync with its disclosures. From $4 at the beginning of July, it surged to $41 in early August, an increase of over 900%. Its total market capitalization also jumped from less than $200 million to over $3 billion.
More notably, after BitMine releases each holding update, not only does its stock price rise, but the ETH spot market also sees a simultaneous increase in volume. The market begins to see 'BitMine buying - ETH price rising' as a set of logically related events, further reinforcing the closed loop of the narrative.
This positive cycle of 'market expectations - structural disclosure - asset buying - price feedback' is seen by Wall Street as a typical case of market capitalization reshaping. What is different is that it has not only reshaped company valuations but also reshaped the market dominance of the ETH treasury in a narrative way.
BitMine is no longer just a coin-holding enterprise; it is becoming the key hub of 'Ethereum institutional structure.' In this process, it does not wait for the market to give recognition but actively 'manufactures' recognition through rhythm, disclosure, rhetoric, structure, and pricing models.
In summary: this is not a 'waiting for a rise' accumulation but a 'forcing a rise' structure.
From nothing to something, from buying coins to pushing up valuations, from disclosure to leading pricing, BitMine has created a 'structural rise' template in 35 days.
And it may also be the earliest financial prototype to appear in the narrative of the next Ethereum bull market.
Tom Lee: The new spokesperson for the bull market
As the co-founder and research chief of Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee is one of the most influential bridge figures between the U.S. stock and crypto markets. He understands macro data, public opinion manipulation, and more importantly, knows how to articulate 'rises' in a reasonable and appealing way.
His fame does not come from precise predictions, but from high frequency, strong narratives, and strong positioning. The popular saying goes: 'Tom Lee may not always be right, but he is always early, loud, and memorable.'
His most representative tool is the Bitcoin Misery Index (BMI) - a 'market sentiment indicator' designed by himself, which quantifies the market's 'pain index' through a combination of trading volume, return rates, volatility, and other data.
The greatest significance of this index lies not in predicting rises and falls, but in providing 'data backing' for his bullish statements. For example: when the BMI is extremely low (<27), he would say 'this is the moment for long-term holders to buy the dip'; when the BMI is extremely high (>80), he would then say 'this represents that a structural bull market has arrived'; if the price falls, he would say 'the sentiment has not yet fully released'; if the price rises, he would say 'the on-chain structure is repairing.'
No matter whether it rises or falls, there is always something to say; regardless of how the market behaves, he can always call for a rise.
Tom Lee Image source: coingape
Tom Lee's 'structured bullish' style has several notable characteristics.
Always provide a new target price. He predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin 'would surge to $250,000 in 2022', and later revised it in 2021 to 'expected to reach $200,000 in 2024'; when the market performs poorly, he cites factors like halving cycles, inflation adjustments, and Federal Reserve policies to 'delay' expectations, while upgrading the logic.
Platform linkage + frequent appearances. He is a regular guest on CNBC (Fast Money) and a fixed commentator for Bloomberg; his own Twitter (@fundstrat) is almost daily updated, and he synchronizes YouTube interviews, using short video summaries and charts to spread viewpoints; he also regularly updates data summaries with charts on the Fundstrat official website for media to reference.
Emotion drives investors, and narrative drives institutions. Retail investors hear him call the bottom; institutions hear him discuss structure. He can create psychological expectations suitable for different groups within the same model, forming 'multiple narrative nesting.' For example, he repeatedly emphasized 'institutional buying window' during a price crash, while calling on retail investors 'not to miss the opportunity to board before the halving.'
From predicting to becoming a faith maker. He doesn't just say 'it will rise'; he tells you 'the structure of the rise is reasonable,' 'ETH will become the new anchor for tech stocks,' 'BTC is a new generation of digital gold.' He transforms 'result-oriented' bullish calls into 'faith-oriented' asset revaluation.
In the construction of the Ethereum narrative in 2024-2025, Tom Lee again becomes an important driving force. He not only says that ETH will rise but also states that 'ETH will become part of corporate balance sheets,' a viewpoint that directly provides public opinion support for narrative-type operations like BitMine.
In the process of BitMine's rise, we can almost see the deep shadow of Tom Lee's rhetoric logic: using 'structural indicators' like ETH-per-share to measure fundamentals; using 'cycle logic' to explain the rationality of rapid rises; using 'institutional entry' to cover up aggressive strategies behind high-cost purchases.
Tom Lee is definitely the king of narrative; he doesn't rely on being right but rather on making loud claims.
Epilogue
In traditional financial markets, asset prices are determined by profitability and cash flow; however, in today's world of crypto assets, prices often exist before value, and narratives frequently dominate the generation of valuations.
The rise of BitMine is not just a change in the ETH numbers in the company's balance sheet, but a narrative reconstruction around 'how to make institutions understand ETH.' SharpLink adheres to the old logic, slowly hoarding coins on-chain; BitMine, however, steps to the beat of structure and emotion, quickly completing a 'consensus turnover.'
This is not a question of who is more honest, but rather who can more quickly, clearly, and structurally turn 'crypto assets' into 'financial assets.'
Behind this, there is an even larger narrative competition 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 liquidity narratives into structural income? Who will ultimately become the next dominant force 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 Ethereum's ceiling no longer belongs to the earliest bulls, but to the Wall Street capital that tells the best stories.
