Bitmine, the influential crypto treasury firm led by market strategist Tom Lee, has expanded its Ethereum (ETH) staking footprint once again with a fresh multi-million-dollar deposit.
The firm’s ongoing accumulation and staking spree has now pushed its total staked holdings beyond 2.3 million ETH, reinforcing its status as one of the most aggressive institutional validators in the Ethereum ecosystem. The move comes at a time when institutional interest in ETH continues to grow despite volatile market conditions.
Bitmine Stakes 62,305 ETH
Blockchain tracker Onchain Lens revealed in a recent X post that Bitmine has staked 62,305 ETH worth $186.4 million in its ongoing Ethereum staking initiative. Citing data from Arkham, the tracker noted that the deposit was executed in three separate transactions within an hour.
Interestingly, this latest staking round follows another massive allocation on January 26, 2026, when the firm staked 113,280 ETH valued at $341 million, as reported by Lookonchain.
Thus, with these additions, Bitmine’s total staked Ethereum now exceeds 2.3 million ETH, worth approximately $6.96 billion, representing more than half of its total holdings of 4.2 million ETH. The continued expansion signals Tom Lee’s firm conviction in Ethereum’s long-term utility and staking yield potential.
Institutional ETH Accumulation Intensifies as Staking Growth Accelerates
As ETH staking continues to rise, institutional investors are simultaneously expanding their Ethereum reserves. Lookonchain recently reported that four ETH staking wallets withdrew 26,000 ETH, worth $76.44 million, from Binance, suggesting that large players are moving assets off exchanges for long-term storage and validator deployment.
Furthermore, the on-chain sleuth revealed that Bitmine purchased an additional 40,302 ETH, worth $117.2 million, last week, adding to its already substantial holdings ahead of its latest staking round.
This behavior underscores a broader trend of institutional confidence in Ethereum’s long-term growth, yield mechanisms, and emerging use cases across DeFi, tokenization, AI-driven protocols, and enterprise systems.
ETH Price Neutral as Community Awaits ERC-8004 Upgrade
In addition to the heavy staking and accumulation activity, the Ethereum network is gearing up for its upcoming ERC-8004 upgrade, which has become a major point of anticipation within the community. The upgrade focuses on enabling more efficient and decentralized interactions between AI agents across the Ethereum network.
While Ethereum developers have not provided an official launch date, community members are speculating January 29 as the potential rollout day. However, despite the buzz surrounding ERC-8004 and the significant institutional activity in ETH, the asset has remained largely unresponsive.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum is trading slightly above $3,000, maintaining a neutral stance amid the developments.
Temitope Olajide
The CoinRemark Team
