BitMine buys 10,000 ETH from Ethereum Foundation for $23.9M

BitMine Immersion Technologies purchased 10,000 ETH from the Ethereum Foundation in an over-the-counter transaction finalized Friday. The sale averaged $2,387 per coin and was valued at $23.87 million.

The Ethereum Foundation confirmed the transaction on X, writing: “This sale funds the Ethereum Foundation’s core operations & activities, including protocol R&D, ecosystem development, community grant funding, and more.” The Foundation said proceeds will support protocol research, ecosystem programs and community grants.

This is the second direct purchase of ETH by BitMine from the Foundation. In March the Foundation sold 5,000 ETH to the company at an average price near $2,043 per coin. The Foundation also completed a 10,000 ETH sale last July to another treasury firm.

BitMine has been active in spot and over-the-counter markets. The company reported a weekly purchase of 101,627 ETH valued at roughly $235 million, bringing its reported holdings to about 4,976,485 ETH, equal to more than $11.5 billion at current prices. BitMine’s disclosed assets also include 199 Bitcoin and approximately $1.12 billion in cash.

Shares of BitMine (BMNR) rose more than 1% after the announcement to about $22.25. The stock has fallen roughly 3% over the past week and gained just over 7% in the past month.

Ethereum traded near $2,313 at the time of the sale, down about 1% on the day and roughly 5% over the prior week. The token reached about $4,946 last summer.

The Foundation said the OTC structure allowed both parties to agree on an average price and settle the transaction outside public exchanges. The Foundation did not disclose the buyer’s immediate plans for the ETH, and BitMine did not provide further comment on deployment of the coins.