Bitmine’s ETH Folly: A $6.9B Paper Loss You Won’t Believe

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Bitmine, the crypto-focused firm chaired by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, is sitting on more than $6.9 billion in unrealized losses on its Ethereum holdings. Unrealized losses, like stage fright for grown-ups, stand there on the ledger pretending to be artful while the numbers glare from the corner.

According to portfolio data from Dropstab, Bitmine holds about $9.2 billion worth of ETH, down more than 41% from its total investment of nearly $15.7 billion. The losses remain unrealized, but the spectacle has drawn a crowd, with Ethereum trading near seven-month lows after a market-wide sell-off that erased around $500 billion from total crypto market value in recent days. It’s the kind of math that makes you blame your coffee for not behaving.

Bitmine’s ETH Bet Comes Under Pressure

On X, the social stage for grown-ups who enjoy cheap takes, investor Karol Kozicki criticized what he called the “prediction industrial complex,” pointing to Lee’s earlier calls for Bitcoin at $180,000 and ETH between $7,000 and $9,000 by the end of January. With BTC hovering around $75,000 and Ethereum near $2,200, Kozicki described the forecasts as detached from reality-like a weather forecast that keeps insisting it will snow while the forecast itself is already wearing sunblock.

Another post from market watcher Shah claimed Lee would need prices near $7,000 to exit close to breakeven, noting that any large-scale sale could move the market. The language was spicy, but the underlying worry-liquidity and exit risk for big holders during stressed conditions-has the elegance of a bar napkin diagram drawn during a thunderstorm.

Liquidations, Whale Moves, and What Comes Next for ETH

Bitmine’s losses coincided with a brutal period for ETH, which fell from above $3,000 earlier in the week to as low as $2,166, with CryptoQuant data showing more than $485 million in ETH long liquidations on January 31. If you love dramatic charts, this week provided the kind of plot twists that require a larger font and a stronger beverage.

Currently, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is down nearly 23% in the last seven days and almost 28% over the past month. Trading volume has spiked 7.30% to more than $55 billion in 24 hours per CoinGecko, a sign of heightened activity as leveraged positions unwind-like a crowded elevator that discovers a fire drill at the same time.

On-chain data shows mixed behavior among large holders, with Lookonchain reporting that some whales are moving ETH to exchanges, including Trend Research, which deposited more than 33,000 ETH to Binance to repay Aave loans. At the same time, other large players have been buying through OTC desks, picking up more than 30,000 ETH in a matter of hours, suggesting disagreement among sophisticated investors about near-term direction. It’s a family reunion where everyone argues about who borrowed the sugar.

Lee has previously argued that a historic deleveraging event in October 2025 damaged crypto market structure and increased volatility, even as he maintained a long-term view of Bitcoin as “digital gold.” But as it stands, Ethereum’s price action suggests conviction alone offers limited protection during broad risk-off moves, especially when leverage and liquidity constraints collide like two neighbors fighting over the last parking spot in a crowded lot.

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2026-02-02 14:20