TL;DR
- Entities linked to Peter Thiel acquired 9.1% of BitMine Immersion, which shifted from Bitcoin mining to accumulating Ethereum.
- BitMine reported holding nearly $500 million in ETH and adopted in June a strategy aimed at reducing market supply and attracting institutional capital.
- After Thiel’s stake was revealed, shares jumped 27% in pre-market trading. The stock had already surged 400% after announcing its Ethereum-focused strategy.
Entities associated with investor Peter Thiel acquired a 9.1% stake in BitMine Immersion, a company that recently abandoned Bitcoin mining to focus on accumulating Ethereum as part of its treasury strategy.
The purchase was disclosed in a 13G filing with the SEC, showing that Thiel-linked funds now own over five million shares of the company.
BitMine Immersion is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BMNR and currently holds nearly $500 million in ETH. The strategic pivot toward a crypto treasury model was formalized in June.
Since then, the company has aimed to replicate the approach championed by Michael Saylor with Bitcoin, but applying it to Ethereum. The goal is to create long-term value for shareholders by accumulating ETH and simultaneously reducing circulating supply to support Ethereum’s decentralization.
BitMine Shares Jumped 400%
Tom Lee from Fundstrat has been leading this transformation as BitMine’s interim chairman. According to him, the initiative targets institutional investors seeking Ethereum exposure without engaging directly with crypto infrastructure. Following the initial announcement, company shares soared 400%, driven by the promise of a long-term ETH accumulation strategy.
Institutional interest in these treasury-based models has grown steadily. In addition to BitMine, companies like SharpLink Gaming and Bit Digital have adopted similar strategies focused on continuous Ethereum purchases. ETH is starting to gain ground as a corporate reserve asset and positioning itself to compete with Bitcoin.
The Thiel acquisition news had an immediate impact on the market. In pre-market trading on July 16, BitMine Immersion’s stock rose 27% after the stake disclosure
