BitMine, led by Tom Lee, has added 24,266 ETH to the company’s Ethereum treasury as it is approaching one of its key shareholder votes. This acquisition is happening days before shareholders will vote on a plan associated with the long term ETH strategy by BitMine.
Why is BitMine Scooping Ethereum Fast?
BitMine revealed in a press statement that it purchased 24,266 ETH in the previous week and its cash balance increased. The company reported a total of approximately 4.17 million ETH holdings.
This acquisition comes right after the 32,977 ETH BitMine bought last week. This is the latest acquisition and points to the aggressive ETH treasury policy by BitMine.
The company seeks to raise its ETH per share and not depend on gains from ETH price increases. According to the company information, BitMine currently owns approximately 3.45% of the total supply of Ethereum, and it is the largest holder of the treasury in the world.
The acquisition also supports the expanding staking program of BitMine. More than 1.25 million ETH is staked currently by many providers.
BitMine Vote May Influence ETH Strategy
The ETH purchases precede the annual shareholder meeting of BitMine on Jan. 15 in Las Vegas. The electoral deadline is 14 Jan. at 11:59 pm EST. Meanwhile, a recent update about BitMine’s ETH staking contributed to a BMNR stock surge, indicating that investors are responding to the BitMine treasury activities.
Chairman Tom Lee encouraged BitMine shareholders to vote in support of the ETH purchase proposal which would increase the number of authorized shares in the company. Most public companies have a 51% threshold or even less and Lee indicated that majority shares of 50.1% is needed to pass the proposal.
Lee cautioned that the company now has a close of 500 million of approved shares. Unless sanctioned, the power of BitMine to continue purchasing ETH would drop significantly.
He also stated that BitMine only issues shares at a premium price of modified net asset value. According to him, this structure is necessary as it safeguards the shareholders and offer more ETH exposure.
Why Institutions Are Accumulating Ethereum?
VanEck’s Matthew Sigel has also emphasized on shareholder participation. He asserts that low voting turnout has not yielded benefits to a good number of digital asset companies.
Sigel reminded BitMine shareholders that a small percentage of voters might result in rescheduling of meetings and generate additional doubts. These uncertainties in most cases are detrimental to shareholders.
He further wrote that crypto investors tend to underestimate corporate voting. Sigel recommended that BitMine shareholders should not wait and hope, as approval for more ETH accumulations will not occur automatically. Institutional interest remains high with Ethereum staking rewards and ETF flows showing greater accumulations in the long term.
The election result can influence the plan of BitMine concerning more ETH accumulations. Unless there is approval, further purchases of ETH may not be impossible.
Source: https://coingape.com/tom-lees-bitmine-adds-24266-ethereum-ahead-of-bmnr-vote-deadline/
