Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has announced a proposal to dramatically increase its authorized shares from 500 million to 50 billion. This strategic move, to be voted on at the company's Annual Stockholder Meeting on January 15, 2026, at the Wynn Las Vegas, is designed to fuel its aggressive Ethereum accumulation strategy.
The company, led by Chairman Tom Lee, aims to accumulate up to 5% of Ethereum's total global supply, a target it calls the "Alchemy of 5%". Bitmine is already the world's largest corporate holder of Ethereum, controlling approximately 3.45% of the token's total supply, with current holdings exceeding 4.2 million ETH.
The capital raised from the share authorization will support the launch of the "Made in America Validator Network" (MAVAN) staking application in Q1 2026. Bitmine projects that staking its Ethereum through MAVAN could generate between $402 million and $433 million in annual pre-tax income. The initiative has backing from institutional supporters including ARK and Founders Fund.
This corporate strategy mirrors broader trends in 2026. Metaplanet, another public company, recently purchased $632.5 million worth of Bitcoin (5,419 BTC), bringing its total holdings to 25,555 BTC and making it the fifth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Metaplanet's CEO, Simon Gerovich, outlined a "555 Million Plan" to accumulate 210,000 BTC (1% of supply) by the end of 2027.
Meanwhile, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), reported holdings of 687,410 BTC as of January 12, 2026, with analysts predicting it will purchase approximately 155,000 more Bitcoins during the fiscal year. The market context is supportive, with U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs seeing a single-day inflow of $843.62 million in mid-January 2026, pushing total net inflows above $58 billion. Ethereum ETFs also saw significant inflows of $175 million in a single day.
Tom Lee believes Ethereum is poised for a major breakout in 2026, a sentiment echoed by Standard Chartered, which has predicted Ethereum could reach between $7,500 and $12,000. Bitmine projections suggest that if ETH hits $12,000, its share price could rise significantly to $500.
In a related development, Bitmine is also investing $200 million into Beast Industries, founded by YouTuber MrBeast, with plans to integrate DeFi services into platforms targeting his audience of over 450 million subscribers.
