Bitmine deposited 74,880 ETH worth approximately $219 million into Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake protocol, marking the company’s first staking operation.
The move comes as the largest Ethereum (ETH) treasury company looks to generate returns from its 4.066 million ETH holdings.
According to EmberCN monitoring, the deposit occurred on December 27. At an estimated annual return of 3.12%, deploying the entire treasury would yield approximately 126,800 ETH per year.
Based on Ethereum’s current price, annual wagering rewards would be worth approximately $371 million.
First staking implementation from the 4M+ Ethereum treasury
The deposit of 74,880 ETH is Bitmine’s first step to generate staking income from its holdings. The company amassed its Ethereum position through systematic acquisitions, similar to Strategy’s Bitcoin buying program.
Bitmine’s decision to bet suggests that the company expects to hold Ethereum in the long term rather than actively trade the position.
Staked ETH can be withdrawn but requires a queuing period that varies based on network conditions. The lock-up period makes staking unsuitable for government bonds that may need to be liquidated quickly.
The initial $219 million commitment will test the deployment infrastructure before potentially committing the entire treasury.
With 4.066 million ETH, Bitmine owns approximately $11.9 billion worth of Ethereum at current prices. Full stake would generate over 126,000 ETH in passive income annually.
Lee is targeting $7K-$9K Ethereum in early 2026
Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee told CNBC that Ethereum could reach $7,000 to $9,000 in early 2026. Lee said on December 26 that the outlook for crypto “is still very good for the next five to ten years.”
“Wall Street wants to symbolize everything, you know, whether it’s Vlad at Robin Hood or Larry Fink at BlackRock, and that’s going to create a lot of efficiency gains,” Lee said. “But it really brings out the use case for something like Ethereum.”
Lee pointed to tokenization as Ethereum’s main growth driver. As Ethereum competes with traditional payment rails, the token could reach $20,000 over time, he predicted.
The chairman spoke about the crypto reversal on October 10, calling it “a liquidation event on par with 2022, when the FTX collapsed.” The markets took eight weeks to recover and find their footing, Lee explained. “I think that’s what’s happening now,” he said.
Lee also discussed Bitcoin, saying the asset is suffering from “gold envy” as gold reaches $30 trillion in value.
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