BitMine $7 Billion Paper Loss, Crypto Crash Puts Pressure on ETH Treasuries

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Ether corporate treasuries are facing significant paper losses in their holdings after the latest market correction dragged many people underwater.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of Ether (ETH), has unrealized losses of $6.95 billion. It’s ether farms were acquired at an average price of $3,883 per token, significantly higher than the current ETH price of $2,240.

SharpLink Gaming, the second-largest Ether treasury company, faces $1.09 billion in paper losses after Ether price fell below its average underlying cost of $3,609, according to a company report panel.

Rising unrealized losses could test the confidence of Ether treasury companies, making fundraising increasingly tough as Ether’s correction leads to a decline in marketable net asset value (MNAV). BitMine’s mNAV dropped to 1, while SharpLink’s mNAV dropped to 0.92.

The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value with the value of its crypto assets. mNAV below 1 makes it tough for companies to raise funds by issuing up-to-date shares, which may limit their cryptocurrency purchases.

ETH price, BMNR purchases. Source: Bitminetracker.io

This energetic could lead to a “brutal cutback” among cryptocurrency companies in 2026, with only the best-capitalized players surviving, asset manager Pantera Capital predicts.

Related: BitMine will invest $200 million in YouTuber MrBeast’s Beast Industries

Despite the concerns, Ether’s current decline remains consistent with analysis by Tom Lee, CEO of BitMine and co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors.

Lee projected Ether to fall to around $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026 before cryptocurrency markets balance and rally by the end of the year, Cointelegraph reported in December.

On December 21, screenshots emerged of a memo from Lee’s internal study predicting future fluctuations. Source: AlejandroBTC

Related: Sharplink raises $33 million in Ether staking, deploys another $170 million ETH

Trend Research sells $79 million worth of ether at a loss

The recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market has already put pressure on some treasury companies to begin unwinding their bets.

On Monday, Hong Kong-based investment firm Trend Research closed its leveraged positions by selling 33,589 Ether worth $79 million at a loss.

Trend Research borrowed an additional $77.5 million in USDT from Binance to repay its loan. According to blockchain data, the company lowered its debt liquidation level in ETH from $1,880 to $1,830 common by EmberCN.

Data shows that Trend Research is borrowing Tether from Binance. Source: HeatCN

Trend Research is still long 618,000 Ether (valued at $1.43 billion at the time of writing), but faces an unrealized loss of over $534 million.

Jack Yi, founder of Trend Research, said the investment firm would wait for the market to recover while keeping risks under control.

“After selling off at the top, it was indeed a mistake to enter the ETH rally too early. Because when BTC was around 100,000, ETH was holding at 3,000 and we thought it was undervalued,” he added on Monday post.

ETH/USD, single day chart, token god mode. source: Nansen

Meanwhile, the industry’s top investors in terms of yield, known as “smart money,” have been stockpiling spot Ether tokens during market downturns.

Last week, sharp money traders purchased $38.3 million worth of spot ETH tokens, while whales purchased $5.47 million and up-to-date wallets purchased $31 million. According to to the Nansen crypto intelligence platform.

Warehouse: Sharplink CEO shocked by the level of BTC and ETH farming in ETFs – Joseph Chalom

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