showed more than six billion dollars in unrealized losses from its Ethereum holdings He explained that the losses are part of the long term strategy for managing its Ethereum treasury rather than a mistake in how the company operates
Lee said that BitMine is designed to track Ethereum and over time perform better than the market He compared it to an index style approach where paper losses happen naturally during downturns in crypto prices
The company has continued to buy Ethereum and now holds about four point two four million coins It also earns some staking income from these holdings Lee acknowledged that the broader market is going through a period of deleveraging that could continue into early 2026
He stressed that paper losses are not a problem but part of how the strategy works The company focuses on accumulating Ethereum and earning staking rewards instead of trying to trade for short term gains
Recently the value of BitMine's Ethereum fell to about nine point six billion dollars from almost fourteen billion in October after the price of Ethereum went down The company had added over forty thousand Ethereum just before this drop which increased attention on its exposure
BitMine frames itself as an Ethereum treasury company that takes a long term view rather than reacting to short term price movements The strategy is similar to how some companies manage Bitcoin by holding it over long periods and accepting that the price will move up and down
Because BitMine holds such a large amount of Ethereum price swings have a bigger impact on reported results especially when the market is not very liquid or when there is selling pressure in derivatives markets
Even though the company earns an estimated one hundred sixty four million dollars per year from staking this only partly offsets losses when prices fall sharply
Lee has also warned that crypto markets are still working through a phase of deleveraging and that investors should be prepared for the market to remain under pressure for some time
Despite the challenges the company remains committed to its long term plan BitMine believes in the future of Ethereum and sees it as a key part of finance going forward The firm continues to add Ethereum and earn staking rewards confident that holding for the long term will pay off
In short BitMine’s approach is to accept temporary losses as part of a plan to hold Ethereum for the future The company does not try to time the market but instead focuses on accumulation and staking income while remaining aware of broader market conditions.