BitMine puts SharpLink on notice with $2b Ether stash

BitMine accumulated $2 billion in ETH, flipping the script on SharpLink’s recent dominance, signaling an intensifying battle for Ethereum’s liquid supply.

On July 24, NYSE-listed BitMine Immersion Technologies announced its Ethereum (ETH) holdings had surged past $2 billion, a staggering eightfold increase from its initial $250 million private placement just 16 days earlier.

The company now controls 566,776 ETH, worth roughly $3,643 per token at the time of disclosure, marking one of the fastest large-scale accumulations by a public firm in crypto history. BitMine’s chairman, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, framed the move as part of a long-term strategy to eventually stake 5% of Ethereum’s total supply, a target that would require billions more in capital if ETH’s price holds steady.

A new front in corporate crypto strategy

BitMine’s sudden surge in Ethereum holdings can be interpreted as a calculated escalation to dominate the ongoing ETH accumulation arms race among publicly-traded companies.

The move repositions BitMine ahead of its closest rival, SharpLink Gaming, which had only just reclaimed the top spot with a 79,949 ETH purchase on July 22. That brought SharpLink’s total to 360,807 ETH, then valued at $1.3 billion.

But BitMine’s rapid-fire expansion erased that lead in less than 48 hours. In doing so, it more than doubled the gap, holding over 200,000 more ETH than SharpLink. While both companies are racing to lock up ETH supply, their tactics differ.

SharpLink has favored consistent weekly buys and yield farming through staking rewards, while BitMine appears to be front-loading its strategy, possibly in anticipation of future protocol-level roles or governance leverage within Ethereum’s validator set.

What’s emerging is no longer just a contest over market cap bragging rights. The public ETH leaderboard, once a novelty, is now a live indicator of how deeply corporate actors are embedding themselves into Ethereum’s infrastructure.

According to a recent CoinGecko research, as of July 23, the total ETH held by public companies stands at 1,268,785, worth approximately $4.69 billion. Over 73% of that is now controlled by just two firms: BitMine and SharpLink. That level of concentration carries implications for everything from validator distribution to future network governance, especially if these holdings are staked in bulk.