Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) currently describes itself as a “bitcoin network company driving value through BTC treasury and multiple Bitcoin income streams.” This business model was clearly not working well enough, and is one of several pivots (a predecessor to BMNR was incorporated in the State of Nevada on August 16, 1995 as Interactive Lighting Showrooms, Inc.) as BMNR has steadily declined from 224,000,000 in 1998 to $40.62. Its last stock split was May 16, 2025 for a 20:1 exchange. The next idea for BMNR is to insert Ethereum treasury into its business model. On June 30, BMNR announced a $250M private placement to “initiate Ethereum treasury strategy.” To great fanfare the company claimed it expected “to become one of the largest publicly traded ETH holders” as Fundstrat’s Tom Lee (founder and Chief Investment Officer) stepped in to become Chairman of the Board of Directors. Is this a smart strategy or yet more crypto hype?
Crypto Hype
The allure of Tom Lee is undeniable. BMNR promptly soared from $4.26/share to $33.90/share, an eye-watering 695% gain. I am sure even Bitmine groaned at the money left on the table from the $4.50 private placement.
The company made up for part of the missed opportunity by rushing out an ATM (at the market) offering worth up to $2B according to the related SEC filing. Before this news, the stock was already in the middle of a crash, falling 40.2% from its post-ETH high. The ATM news casued another 31% loss. BMNR fell another 11.7% on Friday.
Tom Lee Pressed
In the middle of this mania and crash, CNBC interviewed Tom Lee on Thursday, July 10 and pressed him on BMNR’s valuation and the ATM announcement. The short but informative video captivated me as Lee danced around the stark reality of his company’s super lofty valuation. I took the transcript of this interview and asked ChatGPT to format it into a presentation that
- Translates the interview into plain English such that a retail investor like myself can understand.
- After the translation, provides a compelling, well-reasoned case for investing in BMNR both on its own and instead of directly buying Ethereum only based on Tom Lee’s explanation.
I next asked ChatGPT to explain PIPEs and ATMs. The presentation reminded me why I like using ChatGPT for this kind of use case. The generative AI is well-suited for translation as a large language model (LLM). The presentation convinced me that BMNR is vastly over-valued and, most importantly, waved me off from temptation to try my hand at timing a speculative trade at this juncture. Here is what ChatGPT had to say (with some human editing)….
What is BMNR and What Is Tom Lee’s Role?
Tom Lee, a well-known market strategist, recently became Chairman of the Board for a company called Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR). The stock has been extremely volatile, recently trading as high as $161.
PIPE Explained:
BMNR recently raised money using a financing method called a PIPE, which stands for Private Investment in Public Equity. This means the company sold new shares privately to investors (not through the public market) at a discount—about 55 million shares at roughly $4.50 each—raising $250 million in cash.
Importantly, those shares have not yet been registered with the SEC, so they can’t yet be freely traded on public markets.
What Is BMNR Doing with the Money?
BMNR is using the $250 million it raised to buy mostly Ethereum (ETH), with possibly a little Bitcoin. In effect, it behaves like a publicly traded Ethereum holding company, similar to an ETF—but it’s more than just a passive investment.
How BMNR Tries to Add Value Beyond Just Buying ETH
Tom Lee explains that BMNR wants to use its stock’s high market value to raise capital and grow its Ethereum holdings even further. By being publicly traded, the company can raise more money (at a premium to the value of the ETH it holds) and put that capital to work inside the Ethereum ecosystem.
This might include:
- Participating in staking (earning yield from ETH),
- Investing in Ethereum-based projects,
- Supporting tokenization platforms or stablecoins.
Ethereum’s Growing Institutional Importance
Tom Lee emphasizes that Ethereum isn’t just a cryptocurrency—it’s a technology platform. He points out:
- JP Morgan is building a stablecoin on Ethereum.
- Robinhood is building tokenized financial products on Ethereum.
- Over 60% of tokenized real-world assets use Ethereum’s blockchain.
- If stablecoins grow to $2 trillion, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent predicts, Ethereum use (and token demand) could surge.
He compares this to a “ChatGPT moment” for crypto: a sudden, widespread rediscovery of Ethereum’s potential.
ATM Explained:
The company also has an ATM (At-the-Market) share issuance program, which means BMNR can sell more shares gradually over time into the public market at prevailing prices, rather than all at once. This lets it raise money opportunistically, especially when its stock price is high.
This helps fund more ETH purchases, but it also means the company could issue new shares at any time, which can dilute existing shareholders.
Valuation Warning
The interviewer points out a key risk: BMNR is trading at more than 11 times the value of its actual Ethereum holdings. Investors buying the stock today are paying a big premium, not just for the ETH, but for the potential of future growth.
Tom Lee doesn’t offer a valuation opinion, but he agrees that the math adds up to a multi-billion-dollar valuation, based largely on investor expectations.
Smart Strategy: Investment Case for BMNR (vs. Ethereum)
Why Invest in BMNR Instead of Just Ethereum?
| Feature | BMNR | Ethereum (ETH) |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure to ETH price | ✅ Yes (indirectly) | ✅ Yes (directly) |
| Amplified upside via capital markets | ✅ Yes (uses stock premium to raise capital) | ❌ No |
| Participation in ETH ecosystem | ✅ Possibly (staking, projects, etc.) | ❌ Passive asset only |
| Public market trading access | ✅ Yes (stock ticker BMNR) | ❌ Requires crypto wallet or exchange |
| Risk of dilution | ⚠️ High (ATM and future issuance) | ❌ No dilution risk |
| Current valuation vs. assets | ⚠️ High premium | ✅ Based on market price |
Summary
- BMNR trades at a massive premium to its ETH holdings.
- The bet is that Tom Lee and team can use capital markets access to grow ETH exposure, ride Ethereum’s ecosystem growth, and earn returns beyond simple ETH appreciation.
- You are not buying ETH. You’re buying a high-leverage financial strategy built on ETH—with all the upside and downside that entails.
My Trade
While I wait for a much, much, “muchly” greater discount to dare to speculate on Tom Lee and BMNR, I will try my hand at trading Ethereum (ETH/USD) directly. On July 3rd, I speculated on ETH as it broke out above converged resistance at its 50-day moving average (DMA) (red line) and 200DMA (blue line). I find technicals can work exceptionally well across a host of crypto assets, and I was willing to speculate that this breakout would work out better than the last given the double MAs. I was also looking for an alternative to chasing BMNR which that day had soared 130.8% to its post-ETH high. Moreover, I missed the speculative surge in Circle Internet Group, Inc (CRCL).
The ETH trade turned out doubly timely, and I was taken out last week at my initial 10% profit target. I am now looking to get back in around $2775 before the next surge.
Crypto Hype Now, One Day A Smart Strategy for BitMine Immersion Technologies
In the interview, Tom Lee did not refute the extreme valuation of BMNR. Instead, he leaned on potential and momentum. Thus, BMNR is a lot of crypto hype for now. Over time, I expect Lee and company to demonstrate the value of its strategy. I am just not willing to pay a hyper premium to bet on that future. The company’s $2B ATM is evidence that the current stampede is a bit premature.
As the administration continues to loosen up and clarify regulations on cryptocurrencies, I expect the a proliferation of the number of companies jumping into crypto treasury models, stablecoin platforms and other forms of modern digital money. In due time the landscape could look quite similar to the mania at the core of the dot com bubble of the 1990s and then the bust in 2000…or maybe the better analogy is crypto bubble of 2017 and the bust of 2018…which of course is already old and quaint crypto history.
Be careful out there!
Full disclosure: long BTC/USD