BitMine Immersion chairman Tom Lee pushed again towards criticism of its rising paper losses this week, saying the drawdown mirrored the design of its ethereum treasury technique relatively than a flaw in execution.
In a collection of posts on X, Lee stated BitMine is constructed to trace the value of ether and outperform it over a full market cycle, likening its construction to an index-style product relatively than a tactical buying and selling car.
With crypto markets in a downturn, nevertheless, the agency stated unrealized losses on its ETH holdings are inevitable.
“Crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down,” Lee wrote, including that paper losses are “not a bug — it’s a characteristic,” and questioning whether or not related scrutiny is utilized to index funds throughout market declines.
These tweets miss the purpose of an ethereum treasury:
– BitMine is designed to trace the value of $ETH
– outperform over the cycle (assume up ETH)
– crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down$BMNR will see “unrealized” losses on our holdings of ETH throughout these occasions:
-… https://t.co/VpoNjAnJdC— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) February 3, 2026
The feedback observe latest reporting exhibiting BitMine sitting on greater than $6 billion in unrealized losses after ether’s slide pulled the worth of its 4.24 million ETH holdings right down to about $9.6 billion from practically $14 billion in October.
The agency added greater than 40,000 ETH shortly earlier than the most recent leg decrease, intensifying give attention to its balance-sheet publicity.
BitMine has framed itself as an ether treasury firm relatively than a discretionary purchaser, with its technique centered on long-term ETH accumulation and staking yield relatively than short-term value timing.
That is an analogous method utilized by some bitcoin-focused treasury corporations, which argue that volatility is the price of sustaining long-duration publicity to a core asset.
However the scale of BitMine’s holdings means value swings have an outsized affect on reported outcomes, significantly in periods of skinny liquidity and compelled promoting throughout derivatives markets.
Whereas the agency has beforehand estimated annual staking income of round $164 million, that revenue gives solely restricted offset throughout sharp drawdowns.
Chairman Tom Lee has struck a extra cautious tone on near-term market circumstances, warning that crypto continues to be working via a deleveraging part that would prolong into early 2026.
Lee’s newest feedback, nevertheless, clarify that the corporate stays dedicated to its thesis.
“Backside line,” the agency stated, “ethereum is the way forward for finance.”
