On July 1, 2025, BitMine's ETH holdings were still zero. Just 35 days later, this little-known company had amassed 830,000 Ethereum, totaling approximately $6.6 billion, surpassing the long-time leader SharpLink to become the largest ETH treasury in the world.
This sudden power shift is not just a numerical change but reveals a fundamental transfer of pricing power for Ethereum—from the hands of the "HODL" believers in the crypto community to the financial engineering-savvy capital of Wall Street.
If BitMine represents a structural assault in the style of Wall Street, then SharpLink's existence is precisely a continuation of the "ETH native" logic. The divide between these two companies is not only in their holding rhythms and disclosure methods but also in their vastly different backgrounds and investment philosophies.
As a representative of the "crypto OG," SharpLink's shareholder lineup almost covers the entire chain of capital within the Ethereum ecosystem. This includes Consensys, founded by ETH co-founder Joseph Lubin (which controls core facilities like MetaMask and Infura), infrastructure camps deeply involved in Layer 2 and DeFi protocols like Pantera and Arrington, as well as Galaxy Digital and Ondo Finance, which promote the financialization of ETH.
This capital binding not only amplifies SharpLink's "ETH treasury" narrative but also provides resource leverage in buying, staking, and reducing positions. Their holding characteristics reflect typical OG thinking: slowly accumulating through internal transfers, with small but sustained purchases, most of their entry costs in the $1,500-$1,800 range, and some even below $1,000.
In contrast, BitMine almost arrived in the ETH arena with the posture of "typical Wall Street capital entry." Its PIPE financing structure is inherently filled with financial engineering implications: using a cash + warrant + ETH combination subscription structure, with participants including mainstream U.S. institutional investors like Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, and Founders Fund.
The backgrounds of its board members also provide clues—many come from investment banks, private equity, and 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.
BitMine's timing was extremely precise; during its 35-day explosive period, there was almost a rhythmic announcement disclosure every seven days, each one like a scripted progression. In the first week (July 1-7), PIPE financing of $250 million was completed, publicly disclosing the acquisition of approximately 150,000 ETH; in the second week (July 8-14), an additional 266,000 ETH was purchased, bringing total holdings to over 560,000; in the third week (July 15-21), an additional 272,000 ETH was acquired, with cumulative holdings exceeding 830,000.
This "narrative-driven" rhythmic offensive has overturned the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies that "wait for financial reports to yield results." Its accumulation rhythm is highly coordinated with market trends—according to PIPE document disclosures, its average purchase price for ETH was $3,491, perfectly avoiding the peak while hitting a sensitive range before ETH entered a new upward channel. This precise layout was not coincidental but was supported by a complete toolchain provided by Galaxy Digital, including "OTC structure design + on-chain delivery + custodial settlement," allowing it to efficiently absorb 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 jumped from less than $200 million to over $3 billion. Notably, after each update on BitMine's holdings, not only did its stock price rise, but the ETH spot market also saw a simultaneous increase in volume. The market began to view "BitMine buying - ETH price rising" as a set of logically related events, further reinforcing the narrative's closed loop.
This positive cycle of "market expectations - structural disclosures - asset purchases - price feedback" is seen by Wall Street as a typical case of market capitalization reshaping. BitMine is no longer just a holding company; it is becoming a key hub in the "institutional structure of Ethereum."
As the co-founder and research head of Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee is an important bridge between the U.S. stock market and the crypto market. He understands macro data, public opinion manipulation, and knows how to present "rises" in a reasonable and appealing way. His fame does not come from accurate 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" he designed, which quantifies the market's "misery index" by integrating data on trading volume, returns, volatility, and more. 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 will say, "This is the bottoming moment for long-term holders"; when the BMI is extremely high (>80), he will claim, "This indicates that a structural bull market has arrived." If prices fall, he will say, "The sentiment has not fully released"; if prices rise, he will say, "The on-chain structure is repairing." Regardless of rises or falls, he always has something to say; no matter how the market behaves, he can always be bullish.
In the rise of BitMine, we can see the deep shadow of his rhetorical logic: using structural indicators to measure fundamentals, explaining rapid rises with cyclical logic, and using institutional entry to mask aggressive strategies of high-cost buying.
After Wall Street capital seized pricing power, the Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing a profound reconstruction of its value chain. The digital asset treasury now holds over 2% of the circulating ETH, while just two months ago, this figure was only 0.2%. This reconstruction is first reflected in the capitalization of staking yields. Unlike the passive holding of traditional Bitcoin reserves, the Ethereum treasury is actively deploying on-chain strategies. SharpLink Gaming has staked most of its holdings, BTCS Inc. is earning through Rocket Pool, and institutions like The Ether Machine are building on-chain asset management structures.
Based on the current ETH price of $4,000 and a 30% staking rate, these treasuries could yield up to $79 million annually. More critically, corporate funds are injecting into the DeFi ecosystem through liquid staking tokens (like stETH). In protocols like Aave v3, the liquidity pools formed by liquid staking tokens have expanded to 1.1 million ETH, providing companies with leverage opportunities beyond staking yields.
This change in capital structure has also brought about a double-edged sword effect of increased liquidity and hidden risks. Positive impacts are becoming evident: treasury funds have injected liquidity, increasing the depth of ETH lending pools in protocols like Aave by 17%, with daily transaction volumes on the Ethereum mainnet surpassing a historical peak of 1.9 million. Despite the surge in trading volume, gas fees remain low (benefiting from L2 expansion). However, when corporate treasuries hold 5% of circulating ETH, their off-chain financial fluctuations will directly impact the on-chain ecosystem. A stock price crash, debt crisis, or regulatory pressure could trigger concentrated sell-offs. Some companies are obtaining funds for purchasing coins through equity financing (PIPE), and if their mNAV (market value/ETH holding value) remains below 1, it will expose the fragility of their capital chain.
As BitMine continues to increase its holdings (now reaching 1.5 million ETH) and even announces a goal of holding 5% of the circulating Ethereum, Wall Street's control over the Ethereum ecosystem will only strengthen. In the future, who will become the "long-term valuation anchor" for ETH on Wall Street? Who can build the next mainstream valuation model? Who can transform liquidity narratives into structural income?
The answers to these questions will determine the next round of leaders in institutional pricing discourse. But it is certain that the trend of pricing power shifting from on-chain consensus to Wall Street trading desks is irreversible. The future winners will not be the earliest bullish OGs but the Wall Street capital that is best at telling stories.
Related: Ethereum (ETH) futures data shows traders in panic, while on-chain data points to a price rebound.
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