From Hoarding Coins to Driving Up Prices: BitMine's 35-Day Blitz and the Transfer of ETH Pricing Power

Author: BlockBeats

No one initially expected that the "top seat" of Ethereum's corporate holdings would change hands in just 35 days.

Represented by Tom Lee, the company BitMine achieved this: a small company that had been quietly operating on Nasdaq managed to increase its ETH holdings from zero to 830,000 coins through a PIPE financing and three rounds of structured accumulation, completing a remarkable turnaround against SharpLink and becoming the world's largest ETH treasury.

This is not just a numerical victory, but a battle between two different lineages of capital—SharpLink, representing the "crypto OG," slowly hoarding coins and waiting for a price increase; while BitMine, representing "Wall Street power," realizes profits through pushing prices up. Low cost and high leverage, hoarding mentality and narrative strategy, reflect a direct confrontation of two worldviews.

They differ not only in their methods of acquiring coins but also in their quest for an answer to a crucial question: in the next phase of crypto finance, who has the right to define the "price" of ETH?

We attempt to understand this quietly occurring yet significantly intense industry shift from multiple perspectives.

Why are there two lineages of ETH?

If BitMine represents a Wall Street-style structural raid, then SharpLink's existence is precisely a continuation of the "ETH native" logic.

The distinction between these two companies lies not only in their holding rhythms, disclosure methods, and narrative strategies but, more importantly, in the fundamentally different backgrounds and purposes they represent.

SharpLink—OGs have held their coins too long and moved too slowly. Analyzing SharpLink's shareholder composition reveals it covers the entire capital chain of the Ethereum ecosystem.

The first category is the original lineage camp: Consensys (founded by ETH co-founder Joseph Lubin) controls core infrastructures like MetaMask and Infura, with Lubin serving as the chairman of SharpLink's board. The second category is the infrastructure camp: Pantera, Arrington, Primitive, etc., deeply engaged in Layer 2, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain facilities. The third category is the financialization camp: Galaxy Digital, GSR, Ondo Finance, etc., directly operating in institutionalization, derivatives, and custody services on ETH, making their holdings manageable and value-adding institutional assets.

This capital binding not only amplifies SharpLink's "ETH treasury" narrative but also provides resource leverage in buying, staking, and reducing positions, becoming a bridge for Wall Street to understand ETH.

The initial ETH holding structure also reflects this "OG attribute": sourced from internal transfers within team wallets rather than the open market; single purchase sizes are relatively small but distributed over a long period; emphasizing safety, liquidity management, and audit cooperation.

According to financial reports and on-chain estimates, SharpLink's ETH acquisition cost ranges between $1,500 and $1,800, with some early holdings costing even less than $1,000. Because of this, the proportion of "hoarding faction" in its shareholder structure is extremely high, and if the price returns to around $4,000, it would not be surprising to see natural selling pressure.

Moreover, as early as June 12, SharpLink submitted a document named S-ASR, the core content of which is—once the registration takes effect, the stock can be sold immediately.

This path is not wrong, but it naturally brings three issues: the OG team's "hoarding" mentality makes them more focused on cost-benefit ratios, and once the coin price rises significantly, it easily triggers the impulse to reduce positions; the information flow within the OG network is more closed and cautious, not inclined to actively promote narratives; prioritizing on-chain operations makes them lag behind in financial report disclosure efficiency and capital market operations.

This is precisely the deeper reason why, in the third quarter of 2025, SharpLink appeared to be a step behind BitMine's rhythmic strategy of "disclosure—financing—accumulation—price increase."

Image of Vitalik: Source: coingecko

In contrast, BitMine arrived in the ETH space almost as a "typical Wall Street capital entry." The PIPE financing structure itself is filled with financial engineering implications: a combination of cash + warrants + ETH subscription structure; participants include mainstream U.S. stock structured investors like Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Founders Fund; the chip distribution is transparent, with a lock-up period set, which is beneficial for stabilizing valuation models.

We can glimpse clues from the backgrounds of its board members—many come from investment banks, private equity, and hedge funds, familiar with PIPE financing, compliance arbitrage, and refinancing cycle operations. In their eyes, ETH is not a "digital currency," but a new type of "priceable, tradable, and liquidatable" financial asset.

The differences between OGs and Wall Street are not just in rhythm but also in motivation.

This forces SharpLink to start thinking: is having only OG's ETH not enough?

They seem to have provided a new answer to this question—starting from August 7, they began to introduce new Wall Street institutional investors to participate in their $200 million registered directed issuance.

This is a "power transfer" of Ethereum narrative: gradually shifting from the hands of OGs to capital that can articulate financial reports, tell good stories, and run structures effectively.

The future may not necessarily be dominated by BitMine, but it is foreseeable that the next round of ETH pricing power will no longer be determined by crypto OGs, but by those who master narrative structures and can secure more Wall Street financing, thus possessing more "narrative chips."

How to seize the ETH crown in 35 days?

On July 1, 2025, BitMine's ETH holdings were zero; by August 5, their disclosed holdings had reached 833,137 coins. In just 35 days, this company, previously without any crypto label in the public market, transformed from an "unknown" to the "world's largest Ethereum treasury company," completing a turnaround against SharpLink.

What exactly did BitMine do?

BitMine's timing was extremely precise. During its 35-day explosive period, there was almost a rhythmic announcement every 7 days, each one like a scripted progression: First week (July 1—July 7): PIPE financing of $250 million landed, publicly disclosing the completion of the first batch purchase of about 150,000 ETH; Second week (July 8—July 14): additional purchase of 266,000 ETH, total holdings surpassed 560,000 coins; Third week (July 15—July 21): additional purchase of 272,000 ETH, cumulative holdings exceeded 830,000 coins;

These three rounds of disclosures did not follow the routine updates in quarterly reports but instead transmitted clear signals to the market through media, official websites, and investor relations letters: "We are continuously buying ETH on a large scale, and we are the leaders in institutional holdings growth."

This approach subverted the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies that "wait for financial reports to yield results," shifting to a "narrative-driven" rhythmic offensive.

More importantly, their acquisition rhythm was highly synchronized with market trends. BitMine's average purchase price was not a blind buy but rather a strategic low buy during market adjustment windows. According to the PIPE document, their average buying price for ETH was $3,491, perfectly avoiding the peak while hitting a sensitive range before ETH entered a new upward channel.

This precise layout was not coincidental but was supported by a complete toolchain provided by Galaxy Digital, including "OTC structure design + on-chain delivery + custody settlement," allowing them to efficiently absorb large amounts of ETH without triggering severe price fluctuations.

At the same time, BitMine's stock price also experienced explosive growth in sync with its disclosures. From $4 at the beginning of July, it surged to $41 in early August, an increase of over 900%. Its total market capitalization jumped from less than $200 million to over $3 billion.

What is even more noteworthy is that after every update of BitMine's holdings, not only did its stock price rise, but the ETH spot market also saw a simultaneous increase in volume. The market began to view "BitMine buying—ETH price rising" as a logically related event, further reinforcing the narrative loop.

This positive cycle of "market expectations—structural disclosures—asset purchases—price feedback" is seen by Wall Street as a typical case of market capitalization reshaping. However, unlike before, it not only reshaped the company's valuation but also redefined the market dominance of ETH treasury through narrative.

BitMine is no longer just a coin-holding enterprise; it is becoming a key hub of the "institutional structure of Ethereum." In this process, it does not wait for the market to recognize it but actively "manufactures" recognition through rhythm, disclosure, rhetoric, structure, and pricing models.

In summary: this is not a "wait for the rise" acquisition but a "force the rise" structure.

From nothing to something, from buying coins to pushing up valuations, from disclosure to dominating pricing, BitMine has created a "structural rise" template in just 35 days.

And it may be the earliest financial prototype to emerge in the next Ethereum bull market narrative.

Tom Lee: The New House Dealer Spokesperson

As the co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee is one of the most influential bridge figures between the U.S. stock market and the crypto market. He understands macro data, knows how to manipulate public opinion, and, more importantly, knows how to articulate the concept of "rising" in a reasonable and appealing way.

His fame does not come from accurate predictions but from high frequency, strong narratives, and strong positioning. The popular saying goes: "Tom Lee may not always be right, but he always speaks early, loudly, and memorably."

His most representative tool is the Bitcoin Misery Index (BMI)—a "market sentiment indicator" he designed, which quantifies the market's "pain index" by integrating trading volume, return rates, volatility, and other data.

The greatest significance of this index lies not in predicting price movements but in providing "data backing" for his bullish statements. For example, when the BMI is extremely low (<27), he will say, "This is the moment for long-term holders to buy the dip"; when the BMI is extremely high (>80), he will declare, "This indicates that a structural bull market has arrived"; if the price drops, he will say, "The sentiment has not yet fully released"; if the price rises, he will say, "The on-chain structure is repairing."

Regardless of whether the price goes up or down, he always has something to say; no matter how the market performs, he can always be bullish.

Image of Tom Lee: Source: coingape

Tom Lee's "structured calling" style has several notable characteristics.

Always providing a new target price. He once predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin "would reach $250,000 in 2022," and later revised it in 2021 to "expected to reach $200,000 in 2024"; when the market performs poorly, he cites halving cycles, inflation adjustments, Federal Reserve policies, and other factors to "delay" expectations while upgrading the logic.

Platform linkage + frequent appearances. He is a regular guest on CNBC's "Fast Money" and a fixed commentator for Bloomberg; his own Twitter (@fundstrat) is almost daily updated, and he synchronizes YouTube interviews, using short video summaries and charts to disseminate viewpoints; he also regularly updates data summaries with charts on the Fundstrat website for media to reference.

Emotions drive investors, narratives drive institutions. Retail investors listen to him call the bottom; institutions listen to him explain the structure. He can create psychological expectations suitable for different groups within the same model, forming "multiple narrative nesting." For example, he repeatedly emphasized "institutional buying window" during price drops while urging retail investors "not to miss the opportunity to get in before the halving."

Transforming from prediction to faith creation. He doesn't just say "it will rise"; he tells you "the structure of the rise is reasonable," "ETH will become a new anchor for tech stocks," "BTC is the new generation of digital gold." He transforms "result-oriented" bullish calls into "faith-oriented" asset revaluation.

In the construction of the Ethereum narrative for 2024-2025, Tom Lee once again becomes an important driving force. He doesn't just say ETH will rise; he states, "ETH will become part of corporate balance sheets," a viewpoint that directly provides public opinion support for narrative-driven operations like BitMine.

In the process of BitMine's rise, we can almost see the deep shadow of Tom Lee's rhetorical logic: using "structural indicators" like ETH-per-share to measure fundamentals; using "cyclical logic" to explain the rationality of rapid price increases; using "institutional entry" to mask the aggressive strategies behind high-cost purchases.

Tom Lee is undoubtedly the king of narratives; he does not rely on being right but on being loud.

Epilogue

In traditional financial markets, asset prices are determined by profitability and cash flow; however, in today's world of crypto assets, prices often exist before value, and narratives frequently dominate the generation of valuations.

The rise of BitMine is not just a change in the ETH figure on the corporate balance sheet but a narrative reconstruction around "how to make institutions understand ETH." SharpLink clings to old logic, slowly hoarding coins on-chain; BitMine, on the other hand, quickly completes a "consensus turnover" by stepping to the beat of structure and sentiment.

This is not a question of who is more honest, but rather who can more quickly, clearly, and structurally articulate "crypto assets" as "financial assets."

Behind this, a larger round of narrative competition is quietly brewing: who will be the "long-term valuation anchor" for ETH on Wall Street? Who will construct the next mainstream model of "ETH-per-share"? Who can turn liquidity narratives into structural income? Who will ultimately become the next dominant force in institutional pricing power?

The market will provide the answers. But it is certain that this round of the Ethereum treasury battle is no longer just a relay baton of on-chain faith.

The ceiling for Ethereum pricing no longer belongs to the earliest bullish OGs but to the Wall Street capital that tells the best stories.