Tom Lee talks about Ethereum alchemy, BitMine plummets 12% and its valuation is revised

Ethereum reserve enterprise Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee yesterday opened a monthly lecture titled "5% Alchemy". Tom Lee predicted that ETH could potentially reach over $60,000 due to its scarcity and role in stablecoins. BitMine is actually an Ethereum infrastructure enterprise aiming to acquire 5% of ETH through various methods. However, BMNR dropped nearly 12% after Tom Lee's speech - are investors not buying into his statements?

ETH Outlook at $60,000, BitMine Targeting 5% ETH

Tom Lee believes Ethereum is approaching a critical macro moment, closely tied to stablecoins. He repeatedly emphasized that stablecoins represent the "ChatGPT" moment for cryptocurrencies, as consumers, businesses, and banks are widely adopting stablecoins. This is all built on the Ethereum network.

Tom Lee again bullish on ETH, suggesting it could reach a price of $60,000.

Cryptocurrency Companies Are Actually Infrastructure Enterprises

Against the backdrop of Wall Street's financialization of the entire financial system to blockchain, Tom Lee believes company valuations will increasingly depend on their cryptocurrency holdings. More importantly, cryptocurrency companies are essentially infrastructure enterprises.

Ethereum is a Proof of Stake blockchain. Therefore, Ethereum fund management companies protect the Ethereum network by staking their held tokens. Secondly, Ethereum generates staking yields, which represents income for Ethereum fund management companies.

Third, staking ensures Ethereum network security. This means staking functions as network security, which is one of the business functions supporting Ethereum infrastructure. Fourth, over time, stablecoin issuers and tokenizers of real-world assets will want to stake ETH to ensure the health of Layer 1 blockchain.

Tom Lee also predicted that Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan will become major Ethereum holders over time, with Bitmine leading the way.

BitMine's Five Methods to Increase ETH per Share

BitMine can increase ETH per share through these five methods:

• Issue new shares at a premium to buy ETH
• Issue convertible bonds and warrants using ETH volatility
• Invest more ETH using operational profits
• Stake ETH to generate more ETH
• Consider acquiring companies with NAV close to their Ethereum value

Using Exxon Mobil as Example, BitMine Aims to Become Ethereum's MicroStrategy

Tom Lee specifically mentioned oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp, which was consistently among the top five largest market cap companies in the S&P 500 from 1990 to 2018. Interestingly: It was never valued based on profits, but always valued by multiples of its proven reserves.

Today's crypto reserve enterprises are similar.

When MicroStrategy announced its Bitcoin reserve strategy in 2020 with Bitcoin at $11,000, its stock was $13.49. Now, Bitcoin has risen 11 times, and MSTR has risen 30 times, indicating 11 times growth from Bitcoin and about 20 times from its Bitcoin reserve strategy valuation.

Similarly, BitMine has significant potential for appreciation.

BMNR Dropped Nearly 12% Yesterday

BitMine stock (ticker BMNR) rose from $4.26 when announcing Ethereum reserve on 6/27 to a peak of $160, and was at $40.3 before Tom Lee's speech, representing a 9.5x increase.

BitMine currently holds 566,766 ETH and 192 Bitcoin, with fully diluted shares of 117.6 million. Ignoring Bitcoin value and calculating at $40.3 per share, mNAV is 2.17.

BMNR dropped nearly 12% yesterday, which the author believes is a valuation adjustment, with current mNAV at 1.9, falling into a more reasonable range.

Ark also added more BMNR during the price drop, with Ark Investment Management purchasing approximately 4.77 million BitMine shares through three funds in a block trade last week, valued at $182 million, with an average cost of $38.13 per share.

Bit Bit Reserve Strategy pioneer MicroStrategy Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) recently issued preferred stock STRC with a major victory, with the issuance scale dramatically increased from the original $500 million to $2.521 billion, creating the largest IPO record in the US in 2025. However, MSTR dropped to $403 yesterday, with mNAV declining to 1.76, suggesting potential pressure on the Bit Bit flywheel effect.

STRC Highly Popular, Nearly Quadruple Oversubscription Creates New IPO Record This Year

Strategy issued a total of 28,011,111 shares of STRC preferred stock, with an issue price of $90, raising $2.474 billion, with proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes, including Bit acquisition and working capital.

Unlike other preferred stocks, STRC adopts a floating interest rate. Strategy will set a new dividend rate monthly, aiming to keep the stock price around $100, with this innovative pricing model again demonstrating Saylor's extraordinary talent in the financial field, while clearly reminding us that Strategy's rules are self-defined.

(MicroStrategy Releases High Dividend Preferred Stock STRC, First Month Dividend 9%, Saylor: I Can Pay for 180 Years)

Strategy has raised $6 billion through preferred stocks this year, and with the scale of this IPO, the market is increasingly accepting its preferred stock issuance model. The STRC issuance scale was dramatically increased from the original $500 million to $2.521 billion, creating the largest IPO record in the US in 2025, far surpassing Circle's IPO of $1.2 billion.

(How to Choose Among MicroStrategy's 4 Preferred Stocks to Create Stable Cash Flow with Bit)

MicroStrategy's Bit Buying Momentum Slows, Stock Price Unable to Advance Smoothly

This new investment product may attract a group of retail investors, as such high-yield stocks are rare, and the entry threshold for general bonds is too high. However, it adds new uncertainty to Strategy's already complex capital structure. Preferred stocks must pay high interest, and Strategy's mNAV (ratio of stock price to its owned Bit value) is declining, currently down to 1.76, hovering below 2 since late May, far lower than the peak of 3.89 in November last year.

Strategy did not purchase Bit last week, buying only 10,445 Bits in July, far lower than 17,075 in June and the purchase quantity from January to May. The author speculates that the recent low mNAV may be unfavorable for fundraising, affecting MicroStrategy's Bit purchasing speed. The additional stock issuance will partly be used to pay high preferred stock interest, and with competitors constantly joining, these could be reasons why its stock price cannot advance smoothly.