Bitmine, currently the largest Ethereum Treasury, could well become one of the 800 most profitable companies in the United States, according to this member of the Ethereum Foundation. A strategy championed by its CEO, Tom Lee, often described as “crazy,” but one that could very well prove highly profitable.
Tom Lee’s “crazy theory” about Ethereum
Among current Ethereum Treasuries, Bitmine stands as the undisputed leader with its holdings of over 4 million ETH, estimated to be worth more than $12 billion. This has led some to compare its CEO, Tom Lee, to a visionary akin to Michael Saylor—founder of Strategy—in an Ethereum-focused version.
This relentless accumulation over the past 5 months raises questions about its relevance, given that the Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT) sector is clearly losing momentum as the year comes to a close, to the point where some projects have decided to throw in the towel.
Breakdown of ETH accumulation by Bitmine over the past few months
This provided an opportunity for Ethereum Foundation member Abbas Khan to revisit what he calls the “ridiculous theory” of his CEO, Tom Lee, regarding Ethereum, in a post on the X network. An ironic way of highlighting his obvious interest in Bitmine, a company that is “rewriting the playbook for treasuries.”
Most crypto treasuries rely entirely on price appreciation and generate no native cash flow, forcing them to sell or take on leveraged debt to obtain liquidity. Ethereum Treasuries hold a productive asset that generates a native yield capable of funding their operations without having to sell the underlying ETH.
Abbas Khan
Is Bitmine on track to become one of the 800 most profitable companies in the United States?
At the heart of his analysis is therefore “Tom Lee’s ridiculous theory that Ethereum could earn Bitmine hundreds of millions of dollars simply by staking its ETH.”
According to a quick calculation by Abbas Khan, this could represent an estimated annual gain of over $364 million (approximately 122,000 ETH). By way of comparison, Strategy reports cumulative revenue over the last 12 rolling months estimated at $475 million.
This business is all the more profitable as Bitmine appears to be focusing on developing a native staking solution, while simultaneously becoming “a leading validator operator” directly linked to “Ethereum’s security budget.”
According to Tom Lee, the launch of this staking business should make Bitmine “one of the 800 most profitable companies in the United States” by capitalizing on ETH-denominated cash flows each year.
That sounds pretty damn stupid, actually.
Abbas Khan
At the same time, Tom Lee should take the time to revise his very optimistic Bitcoin price forecasts, aligning himself a bit more with Sean Farrell, the head of crypto strategy at his Fundstrat fund, so as not to lose all credibility by simultaneously predicting a BTC price of $200,000 and $60,000 next January.
