BitMine Shares Plunge as Ethereum Losses Hit Nearly $10B
BitMine shares fell to $15.70 on Wednesday, down 53% year-to-date, after the company reported nearly $10 billion in unrealized losses as Ethereum slid from $4,950 to about $1,735.
Tom Lee-backed BitMine fell to $15.70 on Wednesday, a 53% decline so far this year, after the firm reported almost $10 billion in unrealized losses tied to its Ethereum holdings.
The company bought more than 342,000 ETH in the past 30 days, bringing total holdings to about 5.62 million coins. BitMine has issued new shares to fund those purchases and said its balance sheet shows large unrealized losses after Ethereum fell from roughly $4,950 to about $1,735.
Investors have reacted to the drop. Early backer Cathie Wood has reduced her stake and sold shares at a loss. Market data show BitMine’s shares have underperformed the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500, which are trading near record levels while BMNR has declined.
On-chain measures for Ethereum also show weaker activity. Network fee revenue this year is about $87 million, down from roughly $9.9 billion in 2021. Total value locked in Ethereum decentralized finance protocols has fallen from more than $90 billion last year to about $37 billion. Active addresses on the network are near 435,000, compared with a record around 6.12 million in 2021. Other chains now generate higher fee revenue than Ethereum, according to available data.
Protocol-level incidents have added pressure on the ecosystem. The Aave protocol faced a near-collapse following an exploit tied to KelpDAO, raising concerns about security and liquidity in some decentralized finance projects.
Technical indicators for Ethereum point to further downside risk. Weekly charts show ETH trading below its 50-week moving average and under a support level near $1,733. A further decline toward $1,500 would reduce the value of BitMine’s crypto assets from about $9.7 billion to roughly $8.4 billion, based on current holdings.
BitMine’s stock chart shows the share price breaking below a horizontal channel lower boundary at $17.55 and remaining under the 50-day moving average after a retest. Short-term supports investors are watching include $15 and then $10.
The company was established to accumulate Ethereum as a corporate treasury asset and is one of the largest public holders of ETH. Its recent strategy of continued accumulation financed by equity issuance has increased its exposure to Ethereum price swings and on-chain activity.
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