Tom Lee Says BitMine Has No Reason To Sell ETH With Staking Rewards Over $300M

BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. (BMNR) chairman Tom Lee said on Monday that the company would not need to sell any of its Ethereum (ETH) holdings, and that staking rewards easily cover its obligations to preferred shareholders.BitMine will not sell ETH out of financial necessity, and its preferred stock dividends are well covered by existing ETH rewards, Lee told Bankless. He estimated the annual dividend burden on the company’s 9.5% Series A perpetual preferred (BMNP) at about $30 million to $35 million, compared with staking rewards that he said would be close to $300 million a year at current prices."Instead of us selling Ethereum, we're more likely trying to find ways to monetize our Ethereum holdings," Lee said, adding that ETH was an inherently yield-bearing asset and that the company was not currently converting rewards into dollars.Five Percent Not FinalLee also suggested that the  may not be a cap. “It would make a ton of sense to own more than 5% if enterprises start to hold ETH as a long-duration asset, but we’ll come back to that question next year,” he said.Lee estimated the company was about 200,000 ETH, or roughly $350 million, short of the target. Staking rewards alone were worth more than 100,000 ETH a year, he said, so around 80,000 ETH had to be purchased outright.BitMine was expected to reassess how quickly it would buy Ethereum in September, said Lee, and the company would probably have bought up to 5% if the Digital Market Asset Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) had passed. The Senate is expected to take  on the bill September 15.Lee added that Ethereum should be trading above $5,000 on a new bull cycle alone and could easily go above $10,000 within one to two years once tokenization and AI-driven demand are layered in. was up by 2% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ETH remained in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘high’ levels over the past day.Neutral On Issuance DebateLee declined to comment on EIP-8361, the Tapered Issuance Burn proposal submitted last week, which would kill consensus-layer issuance after half of the ETH supply is staked. He said BitMine had spoken to both supporters and critics and would not comment until those discussions were complete.“If there was no yield on Ethereum, there would be a lot of other ways to generate it,” Lee said.Rally Lifts Holdings To $14.9BBitMine disclosed on Monday that its crypto, cash, and “moonshot” holdings climbed to $14.9 billion after Ethereum rose 30% over the week.As of Sunday, the company held 5,847,611 ETH at $2,440 per token, of which 5,067,309, or roughly $12.4 billion worth, is staked through Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), plus 210 Bitcoin (BTC), a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, an $89 million stake in Eightco Holdings (ORBS), and $308 million in cash and marketable securities. “Annualized staking revenues are now projected at $330 million,” said Lee.BMNR stock was up over 7% during midday trading. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BMNR was in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘extremely high’ levels over the past day.