BitMine stakes one billion dollars in Ether as corporates chase yield

BitMine, which has positioned itself as the largest public ETH treasury, executed the deposits over the two days leading up to Sunday, Dec. 28–29, 2025, according to on-chain trackers cited in multiple market updates. The burst of deposits coincided with a queue build-up to ~740k ETH awaiting entry (roughly 12–13 days), outpacing exits of ~350k ETH (about six–eight days), indicating net inflows into staking at month-end.

The company’s move follows a months-long pivot to an ETH-heavy treasury strategy. Earlier in 2025, BitMine disclosed rapid accumulation of ETH and drew high-profile investors; coverage in July noted ambitions to control as much as 5% of total ETH supply and detailed new backing from Peter Thiel and others. Reuters subsequently reported Thiel’s 9.1% stake and BitMine’s rising ETH holdings, while Investopedia chronicled the firm’s surge past 833,000 ETH as of late summer.

Corporate staking demand is also intersecting with broader expectations for Ethereum’s DeFi capacity in 2026. Sharplink’s Joseph Chalom has argued that Ethereum’s TVL could expand 10× next year on the back of stablecoins, tokenized assets and institutional allocators – factors that would make staking yields and protocol participation more attractive to treasuries.

BitMine’s staking push appears aligned with that thesis. A round-up of company communications and market posts indicates BitMine plans to operationalize staking at scale in early 2026 via its “Made in America Validator Network,” positioning treasury ETH as productive, protocol-native capital rather than an idle balance sheet asset.

Market data sources attributed the entry-queue lengthening in late December in part to BitMine’s large validator allocations, with third-party dashboards showing the inversion of entry versus exit queues after roughly six months of the opposite dynamic. Independent analyses the same day described one corporate treasury as a key driver of the queue flip, though aggregate staking flows also contributed to the backlog.

Analysts say the corporate staking-for-yield play has two direct effects: it reduces liquid ETH float while it’s bonded to validators and anchors treasury returns in a protocol-native rate rather than off-chain instruments. If institutional flows into stablecoins and RWAs on Ethereum materialize in 2026, as some executives project, staking demand could remain elevated, reinforcing those supply dynamics.

BitMine’s strategy evolved over 2025 alongside rising Ether-linked equities and expanding ETH treasuries at public companies. July reports documented double-digit stock gains for ETH-exposed firms and BitMine’s rapid ETH accumulation; subsequent filings and coverage emphasized continued growth in the company’s ETH position and investor base.