BitMine Proposes Major Increase in Authorized Shares
Tom Lee, the chairman of BitMine, is urging shareholders to back a significant proposal: increasing the company’s authorized shares from 50 million to a whopping 50 billion. He mentioned that a stock split might be on the horizon, especially with the fluctuations in Ethereum’s price impacting how the company is valued.
According to Lee, BitMine’s stock price is tightly connected to the price of Ether (ETH). He used the ETH/Bitcoin ratio to gauge future valuations. In fact, he suggests that if Bitcoin performs well alongside ETH, there’s potential for prices to reach $250,000. He anticipates that in such a scenario, BitMine’s stock could hit $1 million, making it inaccessible for many retail investors.
Interestingly, BitMine shifted its focus from being a Bitcoin mining and holding company to adopting an ETH treasury strategy back in 2025, while still keeping some Bitcoin operations active.
Lee pointed out that if ETH does reach that $250,000 mark, BitMine’s stock could have an implicit value of around $5,000 per share. He expressed concern that such a high price might not be appealing to most retail investors. “Most people would prefer the stock price to stay around $25,” he noted.
He further commented that a stock split of 100:1 would likely be necessary to keep the stock price around that comfortable range if ETH soars. This would mean having about 43 billion outstanding shares.
“Currently, we have 426 million outstanding shares, but increasing authorized shares to 50 billion doesn’t mean we will actually issue them all. We want to set a maximum limit around that level,” Lee explained.
Lee also touched on an interesting psychological concept in investing known as unit bias, where investors tend to focus more on the number of shares or tokens they own rather than the underlying value or potential returns.
However, not everyone is on board with Lee’s proposal. The response from users has been largely negative, with some arguing that expanding the share limit could dilute existing shares.
One particular user expressed discontent, saying, “Tom, approving a stock increase just because the stock might go to $500 is shady and ridiculous. You should wait until next year when things aren’t so dire.”
BitMine’s Recent ETH Acquisition
In a related financial move, BitMine recently purchased 32,938 ETH, which amounted to over $102 million based on current prices. They also began staking ETH for yield, with their treasury exceeding 4 million ETH (valued at more than $12 billion) last December.
Staking, in the crypto world, involves validators locking up tokens to support the proof-of-stake blockchain, allowing them to earn revenue through rewards paid in staked tokens.
