He spent billions to buy Ethereum, saying that 4000 is the bottom

Author: Lin Wanwan, BlockBeats

Editor’s Note: BitMine recently increased its Ethereum holdings to 1.5 million, with a total scale of approximately $6.6 billion, briefly surpassing SharpLink to become the world's largest ETH treasury. However, as ETH prices fell, the company's stock price also came under pressure. Meanwhile, leader Tom Lee predicts that the ETH price may first drop to $4,075 before rebounding to $5,100. This raises a key question: why has the pricing power of Ethereum shifted to Wall Street capital? In response, Rhythm BlockBeats provided a tentative answer in an article on August 12.

No one initially expected that the "top seat" of Ethereum corporate holdings would change hands within 35 days.

Represented by Tom Lee, BitMine achieved this: this small company, once obscure on Nasdaq, leveraged a PIPE financing and three rounds of structured accumulation to raise its ETH holdings from zero to 830,000, completing a dramatic overtaking of SharpLink to become the world's largest ETH treasury.

This is not just a numerical victory, but a clash of two different lineages of capital—SharpLink, representing "crypto OGs," 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 buying coins but also in their pursuit of 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 sufficiently intense industry shift from multiple perspectives.

Why Two Lineages of ETH?

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

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

SharpLink—coins held by OGs have been hoarded for too long and moved too slowly. Analyzing SharpLink's shareholder composition reveals a near-complete coverage of the entire Ethereum ecosystem's capital chain.

The first category is the original lineage camp: Consensys (founded by ETH co-founder Joseph Lubin) controls core facilities 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 Layer2, DeFi protocols, and cross-chain facilities. The third category is the financialization camp: Galaxy Digital, GSR, Ondo Finance, etc., directly operating in institutionalized, derivative, and custody businesses on ETH, making their holdings manageable and value-enhancing 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 security, liquidity management, and audit cooperation.

According to financial reports and on-chain estimates, SharpLink's ETH acquisition cost range is concentrated 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, making it unsurprising if natural selling pressure occurs when the price returns to around $4,000.

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 problems: the "hoarding" mentality of the OG team makes them more focused on cost-benefit ratios, and once the coin price rises significantly, it easily triggers a desire to reduce positions; the information flow within the OG network is more closed and cautious, not inclined to actively play the narrative card; 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 in the posture of "typical Wall Street capital entry." First, the PIPE financing structure itself is filled with financial engineering implications: using a cash + warrant + ETH combination subscription structure; participants include mainstream U.S. stock structure investors like Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Founders Fund; the chip distribution is transparent, with lock-up periods set, benefiting valuation model stability.

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 cashable" financial asset.

The difference between OGs and Wall Street is not just a rhythm difference but a conflict of motives.

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 on August 7, they introduced new Wall Street institutional investors to participate in their $200 million registered directed issuance.

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

The future may not necessarily belong solely to BitMine, but it is foreseeable that the next round of ETH pricing dominance will no longer be determined by crypto OGs, but by those who master narrative structures and can obtain 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. In just 35 days, this company, previously without any crypto label in the public market, transformed from an "unknown" into the "world's largest Ethereum treasury company," completing a dramatic overtaking of 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 premeditated script: Week 1 (July 1—July 7): PIPE financing of $250 million landed, publicly disclosing the completion of the first batch purchase of about 150,000 ETH; Week 2 (July 8—July 14): additional purchase of 266,000 ETH, total holdings surpassed 560,000; Week 3 (July 15—July 21): additional purchase of 272,000 ETH, cumulative holdings exceeded 830,000;

These three rounds of disclosures did not follow the routine updates of quarterly reports but instead delivered 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 overturned the traditional disclosure logic of treasury companies that "wait for financial reports to show results," shifting to a "narrative-led" rhythmic offensive.

More importantly, its accumulation rhythm was highly coordinated with market trends. BitMine's average purchase price was not a blind buy but utilized market adjustment windows to "time the rhythm" for low-cost acquisitions. According to PIPE document disclosures, their average ETH purchase price was $3,491, perfectly avoiding the phase high point while hitting the sensitive area before ETH entered a new upward channel.

This precise layout was not coincidental but was complemented by a complete toolchain provided by Galaxy Digital, including "OTC structural 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 in early July, it surged to over $41 in early August, an increase of over 900%. Its total market capitalization jumped from less than $200 million to over $3 billion.

Notably, after each disclosure 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's closed loop.

This positive cycle of "market expectations—structural disclosures—asset purchases—price feedback" was 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 the 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 market recognition but actively "manufactures" recognition through rhythm, disclosures, rhetoric, structure, and pricing models.

In summary: this is not a "wait for the rise" accumulation 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 35 days.

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

Tom Lee: The New House Advocate

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 and crypto markets. He understands macro data, media manipulation, and, more importantly, knows how to present "rises" in a reasonable and appealing manner.

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

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

The greatest significance of this index lies not in predicting rises and falls but in providing "data backing" for his bullish statements. For example, when the BMI is extremely low (<27), he might say, "This is the moment for long-term holders to buy the dip"; when the BMI is extremely high (>80), he would claim, "This indicates that a structural bull market has arrived"; if prices fall, he would say, "Sentiment has not fully released"; if prices rise, he would say, "On-chain structures are repairing."

Regardless of rises or falls, 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 features.

He always provides a new target price. He predicted in 2017 that Bitcoin "would reach $250,000 in 2022," and later in 2021 revised it to "expected to reach $200,000 in 2024"; when the market performs poorly, he cites halving cycles, inflation adjustments, and Federal Reserve policies 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 synchronized with YouTube interviews, using short video summaries and charts to disseminate views; 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 instance, during a price crash, he repeatedly emphasized the "institutional buying window" while urging retail investors "not to miss the opportunity before the halving."

From prediction to faith manufacturing. 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" bullishness into "faith-oriented" asset revaluation.

In the construction of the Ethereum narrative for 2024-2025, Tom Lee again becomes an important driving force. He not only says ETH will rise but also claims "ETH will become part of corporate balance sheets," a viewpoint that directly provides narrative support for operations like BitMine.

During 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 "cycle logic" to explain the rationality of rapid rises; using "institutional entry" to cover 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 in 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 handover" by stepping to the beat of structure and emotion.

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

Behind this, a larger narrative race is quietly brewing: who will be the "long-term valuation anchor" for ETH on Wall Street? Who will build 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 discourse?

The market will provide 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 pricing of Ethereum's ceiling no longer belongs to the earliest bullish OGs but to the Wall Street capital that tells the best stories.