Bitmine (NYSE:BMNR | BMNR Price Prediction), the largest corporate holder of Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH), reported a net loss of about $6.3 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2026. In its annual report, filed on November 10, the company said almost all of that loss came from unrealized changes in the value of its ETH and BTC holdings.
An unrealized loss means the coins are worth less than Bitmine paid for them, but the company hasn’t sold any to lock in that loss.
Bitmine still holds about 6 million ETH, reporting 6,070,092 ETH in its November 9 update after buying another 9,587 ETH in the past week. Ethereum trades at $2,057, down 15.9% over the last month and 58.4% below its all-time high. BMNR shares trade near $18 in premarket trading, down 32.7% year to date.
So could this $6.3 billion paper loss force the largest corporate Ethereum treasury to sell its ETH?
Bitmine Now Earns Nearly All Its Revenue by Staking Its Ethereum
Bitmine began as a small Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) mining operation. In the three months ended November 30, 2024, it reported about $1.2 million in revenue, mainly from selling mining equipment and mining Bitcoin with its own machines.
Today, Bitmine runs an Ethereum treasury, a listed company whose main asset is a crypto holding, and nearly all of its revenue comes from staking. Staking means locking up ETH to run validators, computers that confirm transactions on the Ethereum network, in exchange for rewards paid in ETH. Much of Bitmine’s ETH runs through MAVAN, a validator network it built around the Pier Two staking business it acquired in March.
At today’s prices, Bitmine’s Ethereum is worth about $12.5 billion, or 4.97% of the total Ethereum supply. Its November 9 update put the total value of its crypto, cash, and marketable securities at $14.3 billion.
Bitmine funds its ETH purchases mainly by selling stock through an at-the-market program, which lets the company gradually sell new shares at current market prices. It has also issued redeemable preferred stock, which pays a set dividend before common shareholders receive anything, and it had about 626 million shares outstanding as of November 4.
Only Debt, a Margin Call or a Dividend Squeeze Could Force a Sale
A paper loss hits the income statement but doesn’t require asset sales, since the company still holds its coins. Bitmine values its crypto at fair value, meaning current market prices, so each drop in ETH hits its earnings even when it hasn’t sold a coin.
Forced selling typically happens when a company needs cash it can’t raise any other way. That could come from debt falling due, a margin call, when a lender demands more collateral because the asset backing a loan has fallen, or a covenant, a loan condition that trips when an asset drops below a set value.
In its 10-K filing, Bitmine describes itself as funded by common and preferred stock, without mentioning any loans backed by ETH or covenants tied to Ethereum’s price. The biggest pressure point appears to be its preferred dividend, which management flagged as a risk because staking yields, ETH prices, and liquidity all swing. Management also said its internal controls over financial reporting weren’t effective.
The Bigger Concern for Ethereum Holders Is a Slowdown in Buying
For Ethereum holders, a more immediate risk is that Bitmine buys less ETH. Bitmine’s stock trades at a price-to-book ratio of 0.98, meaning its share price is slightly below the value of its underlying assets. Selling new shares at that price would shrink the ETH behind each existing share, so Bitmine has turned to share buybacks instead.
Bitmine’s chairman said in October that the company plans to stop buying once it reaches 5% of the total ETH supply, a cap it has nearly reached. Weekly updates show its holdings inching up from 6.02 million ETH on October 5 to 6.07 million by November 9. Bitmine hasn’t committed to buying past that cap, which raises the question of who could step in as the next big buyer.
Competing corporate treasuries are far smaller. SharpLink (NASDAQ:SBET), the second-largest corporate holder, owns roughly 889,000 ETH, and public companies hold about 8.1 million ETH combined. Spot Ethereum ETFs also turned into sellers in October, according to SoSoValue, leaving fewer buyers once Bitmine stops.
Ethereum’s price trend is also weak. ETH trades below its 50-day average of $2,457 and its 200-day average of $2,152 after a sharp decline over the past month.
Could Bitmine Be Forced to Sell ETH? Its Filings Point to No
A forced sale looks unlikely. The $6.3 billion loss is only on paper, the filings show no ETH-backed loans that could demand immediate cash, and Bitmine keeps earning staking income, so it can hold its coins through the decline. But that’s less comforting for Ethereum, because a holder that has nearly stopped buying adds no fresh demand, and ETH holders could feel that in the price long before any sale shows up.
Bitmine’s weekly holdings updates offer a simple check. If one falls below 6,070,092 ETH, or a new filing adds an ETH-secured loan, a sale would move from theory to fact. Until then, the filings show no lender or loan term that can force Bitmine to sell its Ethereum.
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