Bitmine Immersion Technologies’ chairman, Tom Lee, has asked shareholders to approve an amendment that would raise authorized common shares from 500,000,000 to 50,000,000,000, with a vote scheduled for Jan. 14, 2026 and the company’s annual meeting on Jan. 15. The proposal is presented as a strategic tool meant to provide rapid access to capital markets and an execution currency for acquisitions and other corporate actions.
The outcome will shape Bitmine’s capital flexibility around its large Ethereum treasury and will influence dilution risk for existing holders. The decision effectively forces shareholders to weigh strategic optionality against a materially larger dilution overhang.
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The annual shareholder vote deadline is Jan 14, 2026 at 11:59pm ET– many asking why we want to increase authorized shares from 500mm to 50 billion (proposal 2)
No, it’s not because $BMNR is about to “dilute” shareholders
Link🔗 https://t.co/1WJz2TG9VD
Keep reading 📖… pic.twitter.com/oDOwRQ9iZj
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) January 2, 2026
Management’s Case for Expanded Authorization
Lee argues the expanded authorization is not merely administrative but a necessary platform for a wider set of capital-markets activities. He frames the amendment as infrastructure for faster execution across multiple financing and corporate-action pathways.
He said the change would enable at-the-market (ATM) offerings to raise capital opportunistically, issuance of convertible debt and warrants for lower-cost financing with equity upside, share-based consideration to accelerate acquisitions and partnerships, and future stock splits if the share price rises sharply. In Lee’s framing, the larger authorization is intended to make equity a flexible tool for funding, deal-making, and capital-structure management.
According to Lee, those mechanisms would allow Bitmine to act quickly during volatile crypto market windows and to finance further Ethereum purchases or strategic deals without repeated shareholder votes. The pitch is that speed matters, and a larger authorized pool reduces the friction of returning to shareholders for incremental approvals.
He specifically cited potential stock splits as a reason to boost authorized shares, describing scenarios where a 20:1 split would be considered if the share price reached $500 and a 100:1 split if it climbed to $5,000. These examples are used to justify substantial headroom in the share count to preserve retail accessibility under extreme price outcomes.
Shareholder Skepticism and Dilution Risk
Not all shareholders accept management’s framing, and a subset of retail investors has expressed alarm at the scale of the increase, describing it as a 100-fold expansion. Some investors question why a far smaller increase would not achieve the same objectives with less dilution capacity.
One shareholder on Reddit summarized the skepticism: “I don’t mind some necessary dilution to fund the acquisition of Ethereum. But come on, he’s asking for 100x current authorized shares. That’s just cartoonish.” The sentiment captures concern that the proposal’s magnitude signals potential overreach rather than prudent flexibility.
Critics cite the potential for significant dilution if management uses the expanded pool aggressively for capital raises, while supporters counter that the enlarged authorization functions as optional capacity rather than an immediate issuance plan. The dispute ultimately centers on governance and disclosure, including whether Bitmine can demonstrate value-accretive issuance and commit to guardrails that protect existing holders.
A decisive factor for investors will be clarity on intended use and contingencies, including how ATM programs, convertible instruments, and acquisition currency would be deployed. Shareholders are effectively asking for clearer thresholds and transparency so strategic agility does not translate into open-ended dilution.
The company positions the move as part of a broader strategy to align a public equity vehicle with the dynamics of a corporate crypto treasury. That framing raises execution questions about issuance timing, capital-markets tool selection, and how each action interacts with Bitmine’s on-balance-sheet Ethereum strategy.
Investors are now focused on the Jan. 14 vote, which will determine whether Bitmine secures the enlarged authorization. A favorable vote would give management the mechanics to pursue ATM raises, debt exchanges, and stock-split capacity; a rejection would constrain those options and force narrower, case-by-case approvals. Either outcome will serve as a signal of how shareholders prioritize flexibility versus dilution control in a treasury-driven equity story.