ETH Treasury Giant Bitmine Starts Staking $219M Worth of ETH
What Did Bitmine Do on ETH’s Network?
ETH treasury firm Bitmine has begun staking its Ether holdings, depositing nahead $219 million worth of ETH into ETH’s proof-of-stake system. On Sunday, several wallets linked to the company transferred a combined 74,880 ETH to a contract labeled “BatchDeposit,” according to onchain data from Arkham. The pattern is commonly associated with institutional staking setups that pool assets before spinning up Block confirmers.
The move marks Bitmine’s first confirmed attempt to earn staking rewards on its Ether reserves. Onchain analyst EmberCN flagged the activity, noting that the firm is now actively putting capital to work rather than holding ETH purely as a treasury asset.
“This is their first time staking, and they now hold 4.066 million ETH, with an approximate APY of 3.12%,” EmberCN wrote on X. “If all of it were staked, they could earn about 126,800 ETH in interest over a year.”
At current prices near $2,930 per ETH, that level of annual rewards would translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in additional Ether, underscoring why large holders are increasingly viewing staking as a treasury management tool rather than a niche activity.
Investor Takeaway
How Large Is Bitmine’s ETH Treasury?
The staking deposits come just days later than Bitmine confirmed its Ether treasury had crossed 4 million tokens for the first time. The firm said earlier this week that it now holds more than 4.06 million ETH following a fresh $40 million purchase.
Over the past seven days alone, Bitmine added close to 100,000 ETH at an average price of $2,991 per token. The scale of those purchases places the company among the largest known , rivaling other public firms that have built ETH-heavy balance sheets.
Unlike speculative trading activity, has focused on long-term ownership. The decision to begin staking suggests the firm is now shifting toward active balance-sheet management, using to generate incremental returns.
Was This Move Planned?
Bitmine has previously outlined plans to enter staking, though on a longer timeline. In November, the company said it intended to begin Ether staking in the first quarter of 2026 through an internal setup known as the Made-in America Block confirmer Network, or MAVAN.
At the time, Bitmine said it had selected three institutional staking providers for a pilot program. The plan was to test performance, security, and operational processes using a limited portion of its ETH before scaling to a larger deployment.
The latest deposits suggest that preparatory steps may already be underway, even if the full MAVAN framework is not yet live. Sending ETH to a batch deposit contract is often an ahead phase in Block confirmer deployment, especially for entities managing tens of thousands of tokens at once.
Investor Takeaway
What Does This Say About Institutional ETH Demand?
Bitmine’s staking activity arrives as expectations around ETH’s institutional role continue to grow. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink Gaming, recently said could increase tenfold in 2026 as onchain use cases expand and institutional participation deepens.
Sharplink itself is the second-largest known public , with roughly 798,000 ETH worth about $2.33 billion. Chalom pointed to stablecoins as a central driver, predicting the market could reach $500 billion by the end of next year. More than half of stablecoin activity already runs on ETH, linking issuance growth directly to network usage and fees.
