BitMine Shareholder Meeting Marks Shift from ETH Staking Proxy: Here’s Where Tom Lee’s Looking Next

BitMine’s annual shareholder meeting in Las Vegas was billed as a routine governance event, with votes scheduled on board elections, executive compensation, and an increase in authorized shares.

Instead, the session became a strategic coming-out moment, reframing the company from a simple Ethereum staking proxy into something far more ambitious.

Distribution and Retail Onboarding Now Sit at the Core of BitMine’s ETH Strategy

At the heart of that shift is BitMine’s progress toward its long-stated goal of controlling 5% of Ethereum’s total supply.

According to commentary shared around the meeting, the company already controls roughly 75% of the ETH required to reach that threshold. That is, 3.36% of the ETH supply, in the push toward 5%. This is supported by a balance sheet holding close to $1 billion in cash and no debt.

Management signaled that the 5% target could now be reached as early as this year. Notably, this alchemy 5% was once framed as a multi-year ambition.

The economics behind that accumulation are no longer theoretical. At current ETH prices, BitMine is already generating an estimated $400 million to $430 million annually from a combination of ETH staking rewards and cash yield.

Once the 5% threshold is reached, those figures rise to roughly $540 million to $580 million in annual pre-tax income, assuming flat prices.

For a company with a relatively small headcount, the result is a cash-generating profile that rivals some of the most profitable firms in the US.

The upside, however, is highly convex. BitMine has modeled scenarios where Ethereum reaches $12,000, a level that would push annual staking income into the $2 billion range.

Crucially for equity holders, that cash flow would be recurring and non-dilutive, giving the company the option to reinvest in:

• New platforms
• Infrastructure, or
• Potential shareholder returns without relying on leverage.

That reinvestment logic helps explain the company’s most controversial move to date. BitMine invested $200 million into Beast Industries, the media company founded by YouTube megastar MrBeast.

The deal initially raised eyebrows. However, management and aligned investors framed it as a distribution strategy rather than a branding exercise.

BitMine Bets on Ethereum and MrBeast to Build the Next Retail Crypto Onramp

In an interview with CNBC ahead of the shareholder meeting, BitMine Chairman Tom Lee said the rationale sits at the intersection of digital platforms and financial infrastructure.

“It’s our view that Ethereum, which is a smart contract platform, is the future of finance, where digitalization of not only dollars but stocks and equities is going to take place,” Lee said. “Over time, that really blurs what is a service versus what’s digital money. And that’s where a collaboration and investment into Beast Industries makes sense.”

Lee emphasized MrBeast’s cultural reach as a strategic asset. He noted that he is “probably the iconic person for Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and arguably millennial.” Indeed, MrBeast’s individual videos draw more monthly viewers than the Super Bowl.

“This isn’t a crypto company buying brand exposure. This is the construction of the largest retail DeFi onramp ever built. 450 million subscribers. 1.4 billion views in 90 days. $473 million revenue in 2025,” wrote analyst Shanaka Anslem.

Beast Industries, Lee added, is planning “a future platform of services which includes digital items and even financial services.” According to the BitMine executive, this creates a natural bridge to Ethereum-based products such as stablecoins and tokenized assets.

For BitMine, the logic is that distribution has become a form of infrastructure. The company is positioning itself for a world where wallets, tokenized assets, and digital ownership are introduced through creator-led platforms with massive global audiences. This is as opposed to relying solely on institutional adoption via ETFs and TradFi rails.

Underlying all of this is a balance sheet built for volatility. With zero debt, high liquidity, and no forced selling risk, BitMine is structured to endure crypto market cycles rather than react to them.

The company’s decision to host an open, live shareholder meeting with real-time Q&A only reinforced that message of confidence and transparency.

Taken together, the meeting suggested that BitMine no longer wants to be valued as a single-factor ETH yield play.

Instead, it is pitching itself as a Berkshire-style holding company for the digital economy. In its model, Ethereum provides the cash-generating base layer and capital allocation that would define the next phase of growth. This is as opposed to relying solely on ETH for staking.

Still, there remains some dissatisfaction about BitMine’s plans to launch an app, also revealed during the shareholder meeting.