Bitmine Immersion Technologies chairman Tom Lee has pushed back against criticism of the company’s Ethereum treasury strategy, arguing that large unrealized losses are an expected feature of a public vehicle designed to track Ether across a full market cycle.
The company has continued to accumulate, reporting 4.24 million ETH as of Jan. 25 and buying 40,302 ETH in the prior week, while the value of its reserve fell to about $9.6 billion from nearly $14 billion in October.
BitMine also earns staking income.
Lee’s comments came in response to a social media post accusing Bitmine of sitting on steep paper losses and creating future selling pressure for Ether.
The post claimed that Bitmine was acting as “exit liquidity” for early Ethereum holders and suggested that its accumulated holdings would cap future price gains.
Treasury strategy under scrutiny
Responding to the criticism, Lee said Bitmine’s structure is intended to closely mirror the price of Ether and to outperform it over time, rather than to manage volatility or avoid drawdowns.
He emphasized that unrealized losses naturally appear during broad market downturns and questioned why similar scrutiny is not applied to index-style products when they decline alongside their underlying assets.
“Crypto is in a downturn, so naturally ETH is down,” Lee wrote, adding that paper losses are “not a bug — it’s a feature,” and asking whether index funds face the same level of criticism during market pullbacks.
The critic claimed a $6.6 billion unrealized loss, a figure Lee rejected as a sign of failure.
Ether has fallen sharply in the latest phase of the crypto sell-off, and Bitmine’s growing treasury has amplified those mark-to-market swings.
The company has consistently framed its approach as a long-duration bet on Ethereum’s role in finance and capital markets, pairing accumulation with staking infrastructure rather than short-term trading.
Balance sheet swings and continued accumulation
CoinDesk reported that ether’s slide pulled the value of BitMine’s holdings to about $9.6 billion from nearly $14 billion in October, leaving the firm with more than $6 billion in paper losses.
The company added more than 40,000 ETH shortly before the latest leg lower, intensifying focus on its exposure.
A recent company update cited by CryptoNews said BitMine held 4.24 million ETH as of Jan. 25 after acquiring 40,302 ETH over the prior week.
The firm acknowledged that adding to its position shortly before the latest leg lower intensified attention on its balance-sheet exposure.
It has nevertheless reiterated that it operates as an ether treasury company, not a discretionary buyer, with a mandate centered on long-term accumulation and staking yield.
Market structure stress and long-term thesis
Lee has linked the recent sell-off to broader market structure stress, pointing to the aftershocks of a record $19 billion liquidation event in October and to how flows into metals can drain risk appetite from crypto during fragile periods.
He has also cited a shifting political and institutional backdrop, highlighting comments from President Donald Trump that Congress is working on crypto market structure legislation he hopes to sign soon.
Still, his latest remarks underscore that Bitmine remains committed to its strategy.
“Bottom line,” the firm said, “ethereum is the future of finance.”
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