Bitmine (BMNR.US), led by "Wall Street Oracle" Tom Lee, is attempting a bold capital market wager on what he calls "Ethereum's ChatGPT moment." However, in its most recent fiscal year, the company recorded a loss exceeding $6 billion, almost entirely stemming from write-downs on its Ethereum holdings. Even so, the company has chosen to keep increasing its position.
In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bitmine disclosed a net loss of $6.31 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, equivalent to a loss of $13.11 per share. By contrast, the company posted a profit of $348.6 million in the prior fiscal year. The company did not sell its Ethereum holdings at a loss. Of the total $6.31 billion loss, approximately $6.23 billion represents unrealized losses, arising from Bitmine marking down the value of its holdings due to falling coin prices. In the prior fiscal year, the same item had generated a gain of $805 million.
The financial statements show that revenue jumped from $6.1 million in the prior fiscal year to $124.8 million, driven by its staking and validation business. Of that, staking and validation contributed $121.4 million, accounting for roughly 97% of total revenue. But cost-side pressures were more pronounced: general and administrative expenses reached $376.9 million, about three times revenue. According to Koyfin data, analysts had previously estimated average revenue of $77.45 million and earnings per share of $0.13. As of press time, Bitmine shares were up 0.9% in pre-market trading. On the Stocktwits platform, retail sentiment toward Bitmine over the past day remained in "bullish" territory, with discussion volume at elevated levels.
Ethereum price pullback weighs on results. Filings show that as of the end of August, Bitmine held 5.9 million Ethereum, worth approximately $14.6 billion, representing about 4.9% of Ethereum's circulating supply. During the same period, the company also held 211 Bitcoin, worth $16.6 million. During the fiscal year, Ethereum's price fell about 44% cumulatively. The company disclosed that Ethereum traded in a range of $1,506 to $4,763 during the period. Because Bitmine measures its crypto assets at fair value, coin price fluctuations are directly reflected in its results. The company warned that "changes in the price of Ethereum are expected to continue to cause significant volatility in our reported results."
How Bitmine buys Ethereum. The company mainly raises funds to buy Ethereum by selling its own stock. It sold 395.1 million shares at market prices, raising a total of $13.2 billion. Its outstanding share count subsequently surged from 232.4 million shares in the prior fiscal year to 613.3 million shares. However, the company has also begun share buybacks. According to the filing, the company repurchased about 20.8 million shares in July and August at an average price of $17 per share. Of its $4 billion buyback program, the company still has about $3.6 billion available.
Lee keeps adding to Ethereum. Despite the losses, Lee has not slowed his pace of buying Ethereum. On Monday, Bitmine announced the purchase of 9,587 Ethereum. Lee said that since initiating the position in mid-2025, the company has been buying Ethereum every week. The company plans to continue increasing its Ethereum holdings over time, but is under no mandatory obligation to keep buying. Looking back to July 2025, that was when Lee made a high-profile announcement of this "bold bet" — Bitmine completed a PIPE transaction at about $4.50 per share, raising $250 million, mainly to buy Ethereum. At the time, he called the stablecoin explosion "crypto's ChatGPT moment" and described Ethereum as "the next trillion-dollar opportunity." Now, a paper loss of more than $6 billion shows that this "moment" has clearly not yet arrived.
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