 
 
BitMine Immersion Technologies, the Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy firm backed by prominent tech investor Peter Thiel, has amassed over $1 billion worth of ETH after buying another $500 million this week in ETH.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed company said in a Thursday press release that it now had 300,657 ETH, making it the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the second-biggest crypto by market cap.
“Acquiring $1 billion of ETH is a clear signal of our conviction in Ethereum’s long-term value,” BitMine CEO Jonathan Bates said in a statement. “We are committed to Ethereum’s continued growth and look forward to advancing our Ethereum treasury strategy.”
BitMine shifted from Bitcoin mining to create an ETH treasury in late June and reported holding about $500 million worth of ETH just three days ago.
BitMine’s approach copies Strategy’s Bitcoin-centric playbook, but with a focus on Ethereum, which is valued at around $3,555 at press time after a 43% growth over the past month.
 
The company’s leadership wants to amass 5% of the total ETH supply ultimately; that’s equivalent to more than $20 billion at ETH’s current market value.
“We are well on our way to achieving our goal of acquiring and staking 5% of the overall ETH supply,” BitMine board chairman Thomas Lee postulated.
Corporate Ether Treasuries Are On The Rise
BitMine’s announcement follows a series of recent moves by publicly listed companies to build ETH-focused treasuries.
A few days ago, gambling and sports betting platform SharpLink Gaming acquired 74,656 additional ETH for $156 million, at the time becoming the world’s largest publicly traded holder of ETH with a 280,706 Ethereum stockpile.
BitMine’s latest disclosure means it has supplanted SharpLink Gaming as the top holder for now. A regulatory filing on Tuesday revealed that Billionaire Thiel and his Founders Fund scooped up a 9.1% stake in BitMine.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/peter-thiel-backed-bitmine-grabs-more-ether-now-holds-over-1-billion-in-eth/