Bitmine acquires 60,999 ether as Tom Lee highlights cryptocurrency resilience during Iran conflict.

The ether treasury firm currently possesses nearly 4.6 million ETH, while maintaining a cash reserve of $1.2 billion despite increasing acquisitions.

Bitmine Chairman Thomas Lee (David Paul Morris/Consensus modified by CoinDesk)

Key points:

• Bitmine Immersion Technologies acquired 60,999 ether last week, raising its total ETH holdings to approximately 4.6 million tokens, valued at around $10 billion, while keeping a cash reserve of $1.2 billion.
• The company currently stakes 3.04 million ETH, generating roughly $180 million in annual revenue, with the potential to increase to $272 million as more tokens are locked.
• Chairman Tom Lee mentioned that the increase in oil prices due to the Iran war has raised concerns about economic growth, leading investors to turn towards crypto assets.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the largest ether-centric treasury firm, purchased 60,999 ether (ETH) last week as it continues to expand its holdings of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

In terms of tokens, this acquisition constituted the company’s largest of the year, albeit a slight increase from the previous week’s 60,976 ETH acquisition.

The recent purchase, valued at nearly $140 million at current market rates, brought Bitmine’s ETH holdings to 4,595,562 tokens, which are worth over $10 billion, according to a Monday update from the firm.

The firm retained a cash position of $1.2 billion, even as it increased its investment in Worldcoin-focused (WLD) treasury firm Eightco (ORBS) last week alongside its ETH acquisition.

Bitmine’s stock experienced a nearly 9% rise in pre-market trading as cryptocurrency prices rebounded over the weekend. ETH has risen by 8.4% in the last 24 hours.

The firm has consistently increased its treasury during the recent market decline, despite unrealized losses on its holdings estimated at around $6.5 billion, according to data from DropsTab.

Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee stated that recent geopolitical issues have not affected crypto prices as significantly as they have on other asset classes.

"Since the onset of the Iran war, crypto prices have outperformed, with Ethereum surpassing the S&P 500 by 2,450 basis points," Lee noted in a statement. "In our perspective, rising oil prices are causing concerns about slowing growth in the global economy. When investors are anxious about growth, they tend to invest in ‘growth stocks’ including MAG7, software, and crypto."

Bitmine continues to earn income from staking a significant portion of its ether holdings. The firm reported that it currently earns approximately $180 million in annual revenue from staking 3.04 million ETH, with potential staking revenue reaching $272 million as additional tokens are locked for yield.

Read more: Ethereum Foundation sells 5,000 ether to Tom Lee’s BitMine in $10.2 million deal