Hey Edge readers,

Corporate Ethereum treasuries just hit a record $13B, and BitMine is leading the charge. In the past month, the company has grown its ETH stack by over 400%, becoming the largest corporate holder in the world. Behind the numbers is a deliberate institutional strategy they call the “Alchemy of 5%”, aiming to own 5% of total ETH supply. Let’s check it out.

Stay sharp. 🫡

-The Exponential team

Some Context on BitMine

BitMine Immersion Technologies is a U.S.-listed digital asset company founded by Tom Lee, a veteran investor known for his early Wall Street crypto calls. Originally focused on immersion-cooled bitcoin mining, BitMine pivoted this year to an aggressive ETH accumulation strategy, aiming to become the largest corporate holder.

In just 30 days, they boosted their ETH stash to 1,15M ETH, worth $5.4 billion, as of August 13, 2025. That’s more ETH than most countries hold in foreign reserves. SharpLink Gaming and The Ether Machine also joined the buying spree, pushing total corporate ETH treasuries to 3.04M ETH ($14.5B).

These aggresive strategies have made the market capitalization of Ethereum Treasury Companies to soar to All-time highs at a combined $10 billion… and counting.

The “Alchemy of 5%”

BitMine’s chairman, Tom Lee, has a clear mission: acquire 5% of Ethereum’s total supply. While this kind of concentrated bet isn’t new to crypto, MicroStrategy famously did it with Bitcoin, it’s unprecedented for ETH.

At current supply levels, 5% ownership means holding roughly 6M ETH, it is difficult, but the acquisiton strategy has been going at a very fast pace. To give perspective, the Crypto holdings value of the treasury in less than a month, has equalized MicroStrategy’s 6th month value. Crazy.

Ethereum’s supply is dynamic, new ETH is issued to stakers, but network fees are partially burned, offsetting inflation. When activity spikes, more ETH is burned than minted, making it deflationary. Lee’s bet is that rising onchain adoption will keep burns high, shrinking total supply and amplifying the value of every ETH they hold. In that environment, 5% ownership becomes exponentially more powerful over time.

Why Institutions Want ETH Now

Ethereum is no longer just a smart contract platform, it’s a financial settlement layer rivaling traditional infrastructure. Over $135B in stablecoins and $25B in tokenized treasuries already live on it, and most major RWA projects choose Ethereum as their base. That means any bank or asset manager transacting onchain is indirectly dependent on ETH.

Institutions also see ETH’s staking model as an income stream. Staking rewards, when paired with corporate-sized holdings, can produce tens of millions in annual yield. For firms like BitMine, that’s capital they can reinvest to buy more ETH, compounding their influence over time. In this sense, ETH becomes both an appreciating asset and a productive one, a rare combination in global markets.

How BitMine’s Model Works

BitMine operates as a Digital Asset Treasury (DAT), a type of public company that holds and actively manages large token reserves on behalf of shareholders. Unlike a typical crypto fund, a DAT is traded like a stock, giving investors exposure to the underlying asset without direct custody or wallet management.

BitMine’s core metric is ETH per share (EPS), how much ETH backs each share of its stock. The company boosts EPS through four levers:

• Issuing stock above NAV to buy ETH

• Generating staking and DeFi yield

• Structuring convertible bonds to monetize volatility

• Acquiring other DATs near or below NAV

In its first month, BitMine grew EPS by 330%, outpacing MicroStrategy’s early bitcoin play. Most gains came from equity issuance and staking rewards, but convertible debt is next, potentially supercharging their accumulation pace without shareholder dilution.

Why This Matters for the Market

BitMine’s push for 5% of Ethereum’s supply signals a shift in how influence over major crypto networks can be built, not just through development or community, but through sheer ownership. If corporate treasuries keep expanding, they could command a larger share of staking rewards, sway governance decisions, and tighten supply. It’s a reminder that as Ethereum matures, boardroom strategies may shape its future as much as developer roadmaps.

In the news 🗞️

• Maple Launches Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Collateral on Perps DEX Drift: Maple Finance has integrated its $936M yield-bearing stablecoin syrupUSDC into Solana-based perpetual futures DEX Drift, allowing traders to earn 7–8% APY on collateral. The move aims to boost capital efficiency on Drift, which holds $1.21B in TVL and ranks second in Solana perps volume. Maple set a $50M collateral cap and $100K in incentives, with plans to expand syrupUSDC’s use across DeFi.

• DeFi Lending Market Hits $100 Billion: Onchain lending and borrowing TVL has reached an all-time high of $100B, driven by ETH’s 90% surge since July. Aave leads with $63.4B (63.4% market share), followed by Morpho ($8B) and Spark ($7.6B). The sector’s TVL is up 49% in two months, with Ethereum DeFi tokens like AAVE, LDO, and SPK posting strong gains. Morpho saw a 135% fee jump in August, partly from its HyperEVM integration, while Felix, which uses Morpho vaults, surpassed $550M in deposits.

• MetaMask and Stripe Set to Launch Stablecoin, Proposal Leak Reveals: A now-deleted Aave governance post disclosed plans for mmUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin from MetaMask and Stripe, backed by stablecoin platform M^0. Intended as the cornerstone of MetaMask’s ecosystem, mmUSD would serve as a primary trading pair across its wallet, swap, buy/sell, and earn features. The leak follows a recent MetaMask–Aave partnership enabling yield from Aave’s stablecoin pools in-app, as the $268B stablecoin market continues rapid growth.

Trending 📈