Crypto Giants Bolster Portfolios Amidst Market Headwinds
Despite a prevailing bearish sentiment leading to significant price corrections in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), two of the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency holders, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Bitmine Immersion, have strategically increased their digital asset reserves over the past week. Their recent moves highlight a calculated long-term outlook amidst challenging market conditions.
Strategy's Renewed Bitcoin Accumulation
Strategy, a prominent institutional investor, announced on Monday a substantial new acquisition, purchasing 1,129 BTC between December 22 and 28. This transaction was executed at an average price of approximately $88,568 per Bitcoin, totaling an investment of around $108.8 million. This latest addition brings Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings to an impressive 672,497 tokens, initially acquired at an average of $74,997 each, pushing their aggregate investment to roughly $50.44 billion. To finance these acquisitions, Strategy completed a market equity offering, selling $108.8 million in Class A common stock, with an additional $11.7 billion still available for future issuance. This follows a period of paused crypto acquisitions between November 24 and December 21, during which the company had previously sold $747.8 million in common stock.
Bitmine Immersion Expands Ethereum Dominance
Concurrently, Bitmine Immersion has significantly scaled up its Ethereum portfolio, adding 44,463 ETH in the last week alone. This bolsters their total Ethereum stash to 4,110,525 ETH, accounting for an estimated 3.41% of the entire Ethereum supply, with 408,627 ETH currently staked. Tom Lee, Chairman of Fundstrat and a key figure at Bitmine, commented on the strategic timing of these purchases. He noted that year-end trading typically slows, exacerbated by tax-loss selling that peaks in late December. Despite this, Lee affirmed Bitmine's commitment to being the "largest 'fresh money' buyer of ETH in the world," aiming to enhance shareholder value through accretive ETH acquisitions and optimized yields.
Persistent Market Struggles and Stock Performance
Despite these bullish accumulation efforts by major players, the broader cryptocurrency market continues to struggle. Bitcoin remains consolidated below the $90,000 mark, trading at approximately $87,400, while Ethereum hovers just above $2,920. Both cryptocurrencies are projected to end 2025 with year-to-date losses of 6% for BTC and 12% for ETH, respectively. The market downturn has also impacted the companies' stock performance. Strategy's shares (MSTR) are trading around $156, a 71% drop from their November 2024 all-time high of $540. Bitmine's stock (BMNR) has fared even worse, trading at $28.40, marking an 82% decline from its all-time high of $161 reached in July of the current year.
