Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies has moved a large share of its Ethereum into staking, a decision that puts supply, yield, and market positioning into the same conversation. By locking ETH instead of keeping it liquid, Bitmine is effectively treating Ethereum as a strategic balance-sheet asset, not just a tradable token.
Bitmine reports a public treasury above 4.11 million ETH, roughly 3.41% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, and it has stated a long-term ambition to reach 5% of total ETH. With combined crypto and cash reserves cited around $13.2 billion and on-chain tallies showing 408,627 ETH locked as of Dec. 28, 2025, the scale of this strategy is difficult for the market to ignore. Reported staking tranches vary widely across referenced filings and market coverage, ranging from about $219 million to more than $1.2 billion staked.
Staking as a treasury strategy, not a trade
Staking means locking tokens to support a Proof-of-Stake network and earn rewards, and Proof-of-Stake secures the chain by assigning validation to holders who lock tokens. Bitmine is framing staking as yield generation, with projected annual returns cited between 2.81% and 5%, rather than as a short-term positioning move. Market commentary also points to company forecasts that include daily yield potential of up to $1 million and annualized staking revenue above $374 million once the MAVAN validator network is fully operational in early 2026.
Commentators are tying the staking activity to a tightening of liquid ETH supply, especially as more value is pulled out of tradable inventories. The basic market logic is that removing billions of dollars of ETH from liquid circulation can reduce sell-side depth, which can magnify upside if demand returns. Some technical frameworks discussed alongside this thesis point to a multi-year triangle pattern and resistance zones around $3,000, $3,100, and $4,000 as potential acceleration points if broken.
Narrative catalysts and the Tom Lee outlook
Tom Lee’s public ETH price outlook is described as bullish across multiple timeframes, with targets cited from $12,000–$15,000 by late 2025 to $7,000–$9,000 for early 2026, alongside more ambitious scenarios discussed for mid-2026. The broader bull case is also being linked to institutional usage, including tokenization of real-world assets and early bank activity around tokenized money-market instruments on Ethereum. A short line attributed to Lee, “I think Ethereum is lights out,” captures that conviction in one sentence.
Bitmine’s accumulation and staking push Ethereum further into the “yield-bearing reserve asset” narrative, while meaningfully reducing the amount of ETH that is immediately liquid.