BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), the Ethereum treasury company co-founded by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, is launching a $300 million preferred stock offering, mirroring the financing tactics of bitcoin-focused firms as it navigates mounting paper losses from its massive ETH position. The company disclosed in an SEC filing that it will issue 3 million shares of Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock at $100 per share, carrying a 9.5% annual dividend paid weekly in cash, subject to board declarations. The shares are expected to list on the NYSE under the ticker BMNP.
The move comes as Bitmine grapples with an estimated $8.9 billion unrealized loss on its Ethereum holdings, which total over 5.3 million ETH (about 4.5% of circulating supply). Ether’s price tumbled from near $5,000 in October to below $1,800, dragging Bitmine shares down 5.9% on Wednesday to beneath $17—their lowest since the company adopted its ETH treasury strategy in May 2025. The stock has dropped 28% since early May.
Imitating Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), which has pioneered preferred equity issuances for bitcoin treasuries, Bitmine seeks to expand its funding arsenal. The preferred stock can be redeemed at premiums ranging from 10% to 0% depending on timing, and holders gain repurchase rights upon certain corporate changes. Despite the losses, Bitmine does not face immediate debt stress—it financed ETH purchases mainly through equity, limiting leverage risk—but the market is questioning whether the equity wrapper can sustain a premium when the underlying asset falls sharply.
Tom Lee remains fiercely bullish, recently projecting ETH could hit $250,000 on the back of tokenization and institutional staking. Bitmine generates some cushion through staking: it has staked 4.7 million ETH, earning roughly $276 million in annualized revenue. However, that yield represents a fraction of the multi-billion-dollar mark-to-market drawdown, leaving the stock tightly coupled to ether’s spot price.
The offering underscores the growing pressure on digital-asset treasury firms as crypto markets slump. With Bitmine’s shares near February lows and Strategy’s own preferred stock (STRC) slipping below par, investors are reassessing the viability of public companies fueled by volatile crypto reserves.
