Tom Lee Defends BitMine’s Ethereum Losses as Feature of Long-Term Treasury Bet

• BitMine chairman Tom Lee defended $6 billion in unrealised losses as a deliberate strategy to track Ethereum’s long-term cycle rather than timing the market.
• The firm holds 4.24 million ETH and recently purchased 40,000 more tokens despite Ethereum sitting 57% below its all-time high.
• BitMine remains committed to its staking and accumulation model, even as Lee warns that market deleveraging could persist into early 2026.

BitMine Immersion chairman Tom Lee said the company’s large unrealised losses reflect the structure of its Ethereum (ETH) treasury strategy, not a mistake in execution.

Responding to criticism this week, Lee said BitMine is designed to track Ether over a full market cycle rather than manage exposure around short-term price moves. 

As a result, drawdowns are expected when the market falls. 

In other words, apparently, this is all part of the plan, even as ETH is down 57% from its ATH of US$4,953 (AU$7,077), now just under US$2,160 (AU$3,086). 

ETH/USD. Source: TradingView.

That’s also a 4.5% drop in the last 24 hours, reflecting the bearish sentiment currently gripping the market, as Bitcoin also dropped below US$73K today (AU$104K).

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Losses Tied to Structure, Not Timing

Lee said paper losses are inevitable in a downturn and compared BitMine’s approach to an index-style strategy. He argued that long-duration exposure naturally produces volatility and questioned why similar scrutiny is not applied to passive investment vehicles during market declines.

BitMine Immersion holds about 4.24 million ETH. The value of those holdings has fallen to roughly US$9.6 billion (AU$14.69 billion) from nearly US$14 billion (AU$21.42 billion) in October, leaving the firm with more than US$6 billion (AU$9.18 billion) in unrealised losses. The company added over 40,000 ETH shortly before the latest selloff.

BitMine frames itself as an ether treasury company focused on accumulation and staking, not market timing. The firm has estimated annual staking revenue of around US$164 million (AU$251 million), which offers limited offset during sharp price declines.

Lee has warned that crypto markets are still in a deleveraging phase that could extend into early 2026, but said the company remains committed to its long-term view that Ethereum will play a central role in future financial systems.

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