BitMine Spends $86 Million on Buybacks, Slows Ethereum Purchases

BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. redirected capital to share repurchases and sharply slowed its Ethereum buying, even as it remains the largest corporate holder of the token.

CoinDesk reported on July 20 that BitMine bought an additional 7,430 Ether last week. At the current Ether price of $1,879, the purchase was worth about $14 million. That brought BitMine’s total holdings to 5.78 million ETH, or about 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply.

The weekly purchase was among the company’s smallest since it adopted its Ethereum treasury strategy. BitMine had been buying tens of thousands of Ether a week throughout the first half, including more than 111,000 ETH in a single week in May.

Board Chairman Thomas Lee said the slower pace of purchases reflected BitMine’s repurchase of 5.5 million shares at an average price of $15.62. Since adopting the Ethereum treasury strategy, the company has bought ETH every week. The latest buyback deployed about $86 million under a previously authorized $4 billion program.

BitMine’s total assets stood at $11.5 billion as of July 20. In addition to Ethereum, the company holds 207 Bitcoin, $385 million in cash and marketable securities, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries and a $58 million investment in Eitco Holdings.

BitMine is staking about 4.92 million ETH, or roughly 85% of its Ethereum holdings, through its in-house staking platform MAVAN. The stake is projected to generate about $247 million in annual income.