Written by: Lin Wanwan, Rhythm
Editor’s Note: BitMine recently increased its Ethereum holdings to 1.5 million coins, totaling approximately $6.6 billion, briefly surpassing SharpLink to become the world's largest ETH treasury. However, alongside the decline of ETH, the company's stock price also came under pressure. Meanwhile, leader Tom Lee predicts that the ETH price may first drop to $4,075 before rebounding to $5,100. Thus, a key question arises: why has the pricing power of Ethereum shifted to Wall Street capital? In this regard, Rhythm BlockBeats previously provided a tentative answer in an article on August 12.
No one originally expected that the 'top seat' in Ethereum corporate holdings would change hands in just 35 days.
Represented by Tom Lee, the company behind BitMine achieved: this previously unnoticed small company on Nasdaq, through a PIPE financing and three rounds of structured accumulation, pulled its ETH holdings from zero to 830,000 coins, completing an extraordinary surpass of SharpLink to become the world's largest ETH treasury.
This is not just about numerical wins and losses, but a competition between two different bloodlines of capital — representing 'crypto OG' SharpLink, slowly accumulating coins and waiting for the rise; versus 'Wall Street power' BitMine, which cashes out during price pushes. Low cost and high leverage, accumulation mentality and Narrative strategy, are behind the direct confrontation of two worldviews.
They differ not only in their methods of buying coins but also in seizing an answer to a question: in the next phase of crypto finance, who has the authority 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 assault in Wall Street style, then the existence of SharpLink is precisely a continuation of the 'ETH native' logic.
The differences between these two companies lie not only in their holding rhythms, disclosure methods, and Narrative strategies but more importantly: what they represent behind them are two completely different origins and purposes.
SharpLink — OGs holding coins have held them too long and move too slowly. Analyzing SharpLink's shareholder lineup, it 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, and Lubin personally serves as the chairman of SharpLink's board. The second category is the infrastructure camp: Pantera, Arrington, Primitive, etc. focus on Layer 2, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain facilities. The third category is the financialization camp: Galaxy Digital, GSR, Ondo Finance, etc. operate directly on institutionalization, derivatives, and custody services for ETH, making their holdings manageable and value-enhancing institutional assets.
This capital binding not only amplifies SharpLink's 'ETH treasury' narrative but also provides resource leverage for its buying, staking, and reducing positions, becoming a bridge for Wall Street to understand ETH.
The initial ETH holding structure also reflects this 'OG attribute': sourced from internal transfers within the team wallet rather than the open market; single purchase scales are small but the distribution period is extremely long; emphasizing safety, liquidity management, and audit cooperation.
According to financial reports and on-chain estimates, SharpLink's ETH accumulation cost range is concentrated between $1,500 and $1,800, with some early holding costs even below $1,000. For this reason, the proportion of 'coin hoarders' in its shareholder structure is extremely high, and if the price returns to around $4,000, natural selling pressure would not be surprising.
Moreover, as early as June 12, SharpLink submitted a document named S-ASR, the core content being — after this registration takes effect, the stock can be sold immediately.
This path is not wrong, but it inherently brings three issues: the 'accumulation' mentality of the OG team makes them more focused on cost-benefit ratios, and once the coin price rises significantly, it easily triggers a desire to reduce positions; the information flow under the OG network is more closed and cautious, not inclined to actively play the Narrative card; prioritizing on-chain operations instead appears to lag in financial report disclosure efficiency and capital market operations.
This is precisely the deeper reason why SharpLink seems to be a beat behind in the face of BitMine's rhythmic strategy of 'disclosure — financing — increasing holdings — price increase' in the third quarter of 2025.
Vitalik Buterin image source: coingecko
In contrast, BitMine almost entered the ETH track with the posture of 'typical Wall Street capital'. The PIPE financing structure itself is filled with financial engineering meaning: using a cash + warrant + ETH combination subscription structure; participants include mainstream U.S. stock structure investors such as Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Founders Fund; chip distribution is transparent, with lock-up periods set, beneficial for stabilizing valuation models.
We can also glimpse clues from its board member backgrounds — 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 liquid' financial asset.
The differences between OGs and Wall Street are not just about rhythm but also about conflicting motives.
This forced SharpLink to start thinking: is only having OG's ETH 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 directed offering.
This is a 'power transfer' of the Ethereum narrative: gradually shifting from OG hands to capital that can clearly explain financial reports, tell good stories, and run structures.
The future may not be solely dominated by BitMine, but it can be anticipated that the next round of ETH pricing dominance will no longer be determined by crypto OGs, but by those who master the narrative structure, who can secure more Wall Street financing, and thus hold more 'narrative chips'.
How to seize the ETH leading position in 35 days?
On July 1, 2025, BitMine's ETH holdings were zero; by August 5, its disclosed holdings had reached 833,137 coins. In just 35 days, this previously unmarked company in the public market transformed from an 'unknown entity' into the 'world's largest Ethereum treasury company', completing a surpassing of SharpLink.
What exactly is BitMine doing?
BitMine's timing is extremely precise. During its 35-day explosive period, almost every 7 days there was a rhythmic announcement disclosure, each as if a premeditated script was progressing: Week 1 (July 1 – July 7): PIPE financing of $250 million landed, publicly disclosed first batch purchase of about 150,000 ETH; Week 2 (July 8 – July 14): additional purchase of 266,000 ETH, total holdings surpassing 560,000 coins; Week 3 (July 15 – July 21): additional purchase of 272,000 ETH, cumulative holdings exceeding 830,000 coins;
These three rounds of disclosures did not use the routine updates in quarterly reports, but instead transmitted clear signals to the market through media, official website, investor relations letters, etc.: 'We are continuously buying ETH on a large scale, and we are the leaders in institutional holdings growth.'
This method overturns the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies that 'wait for financial results' and shifts to a 'narrative-led' rhythmic offensive.
More importantly, its accumulation rhythm is highly synchronized with market trends. BitMine's average buying price is not blind stockpiling but uses market adjustment windows to 'time the rhythm' for low buys. According to PIPE documents, its average buying price for ETH was $3,491, precisely avoiding phase highs while hitting the sensitive area before ETH entered a new rising channel.
This precise layout is not a coincidence, but rather a combination of the entire toolkit provided by Galaxy Digital — 'OTC structural design + on-chain delivery + custody settlement' — enabling efficient absorption of large amounts of ETH without triggering sharp price fluctuations.
At the same time, BitMine's stock price also experienced explosive growth alongside its disclosures. From $4 in early July, it surged to $41 by early August, an increase of over 900%. Its total market capitalization also jumped from under $200 million to over $3 billion.
More notably, after each holding update released by BitMine, not only did its stock price rise, but the ETH spot market also experienced a simultaneous increase. The market began to view '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 viewed by Wall Street as a typical case of market capitalization remolding. The difference is that it not only reshaped the company's valuation but also restructured 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 for 'Ethereum institutional structure'. In this process, it does not wait for the market to recognize it, but actively 'manufactures' recognition through rhythm, disclosure, rhetoric, structure, and pricing models.
In summary: this is not a 'wait for rise' accumulation, but a 'force 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 appearing in the next Ethereum bull market narrative.
Tom Lee: The spokesperson for the new major players.
As a co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee is one of the most influential bridges between the U.S. stock and crypto markets. He understands macro data, public opinion manipulation, and more importantly, he knows how to present 'rises' in a way that is both reasonable and appealing.
His fame does not rely on accurate predictions, but on high frequency, strong narratives, and strong positioning. The popular saying goes: 'Tom Lee may not always be right, but he certainly speaks early, loudly, and in a way that makes you remember.'
His most representative tool is the Bitcoin Misery Index (BMI) — a 'market sentiment indicator' he designed himself, quantifying the market's 'misery index' through a comprehensive analysis of trading volume, return rates, volatility, and other data.
The greatest significance of this index is not in predicting rises or falls but in providing 'data backing' for his bullish statements. For example: when BMI is extremely low (<27), he says 'this is the moment for long-term holders to bottom fish'; when BMI is extremely high (>80), he states 'this indicates a structural bull market has arrived'; if prices fall, he says 'the sentiment has not yet fully released'; if prices rise, he says 'the on-chain structure is repairing'.
Regardless of rises or falls, there is something to say; no matter how the market behaves, they can shout bullish.
Tom Lee image source: coingape
Tom Lee's 'structured call' style has several notable characteristics.
Always provide a new target price. He predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin 'would soar 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 such as halving cycles, inflation adjustments, and Federal Reserve policies to 'delay' expectations while upgrading his logic.
Platform linkage + frequent appearances. He is a regular guest on CNBC (Fast Money) and a fixed commentator on Bloomberg; his own Twitter (@fundstrat) is almost daily updated and synchronized with YouTube interviews, using short video summaries and charts to disseminate views; he also regularly updates data summaries with charts on the Fundstrat website for media to reference.
Emotions drive investors, narratives drive institutions. Retail investors hear him shout the bottom; institutions hear him explain the 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 price drops, while calling on retail investors 'not to miss the opportunity to board before the halving'.
From prediction to 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 the 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 once again became an important driving force. He does not just say ETH will rise, but states 'ETH will become part of corporate balance sheets', a perspective that directly provides public opinion support for narrative operations like BitMine.
In the rise of BitMine, we can almost see the deep shadow of Tom Lee's rhetorical logic: using 'structural indicators' like ETH-per-share to measure fundamentals; using 'cyclical logic' to explain the reasonableness of rapid rises; using 'institutional entry' to cover the aggressive strategies behind high-cost purchases.
Tom Lee is undoubtedly the king of narratives; he does not rely on being right but on being loud.
Epilogue
In traditional financial markets, asset prices are determined by profitability and cash flow; however, in today's crypto asset world, prices often exist prior to value, with narratives often dominating the generation of valuations.
The rise of BitMine is not just a change in the ETH number in the corporate balance sheet but a narrative reconstruction centered around 'how to make institutions understand ETH'. SharpLink adheres to old logic, slowly accumulating coins on-chain; BitMine, on the other hand, quickly completes a 'consensus turnover' by stepping on the beats of structure and emotion.
This is not a question of who is more honest, but rather who can more quickly, clearly, and structurally convert 'crypto assets' into 'financial assets'.
Behind this, 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 liquidity narratives into structural income? Who will ultimately become the next dominant player in institutional pricing discourse?
The market will provide answers. But it is certain that this round of the Ethereum treasury battle is no longer just a relay of on-chain faith.
The pricing ceiling of Ethereum no longer belongs to the early bullish OGs, but to the Wall Street capital that tells the best stories.
