Tom Lee — the Wall Street strategist famed for bold Bitcoin calls — is going all-in on Ethereum.

On Monday, Lee was appointed chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, a little-known Bitcoin miner with big ambitions: to become the largest public holder of Ethereum.

The company announced a $250 million private raise on Monday, with backing from Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, to start purchasing Ethereum.

In doing so, BitMine joins a growing number of firms borrowing from Michael Saylor’s playbook — buying crypto for their balance sheets and enjoying a surge of investor interest.

What began as a Bitcoin-only approach has branched off into other cryptocurrencies. Companies are now adding Ripple-linked XRP, Solana, Binance’s BNB, and Ethereum to their balance sheets.

Riding shotgun

This is isn’t just another MicroStrategy copycat.

Lee’s is a bet on one of crypto’s biggest sectors: stablecoins.

Stablecoins are “the ‘ChatGPT’ of crypto because of its viral adoption,” he told CNBC on Monday. “Underneath the stablecoin industry is Ethereum — the backbone and architecture.”

“It’s important to create a project that accumulates Ethereum to essentially protect and have some influence on the network,” he said.

Stablecoins have a market value of $263 billion, and have long been touted as one of crypto’s killer use-cases. The sector is dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

Lee wants BitMine to ride shotgun on that growth.

BitMine’s stock soared after the announcement on Monday. It trades at $45, a tenfold increase since June 27.

Lee’s bet also mirrors that of another crypto bulwark, Joe Lubin. The head honcho at Ethereum incubator Consensys led a $425 million investment for online casino company SharpeLink Gaming this year in order to create an Ethereum treasury company.

‘ETH per share’

The idea is simple: turn Ethereum into a performance metric.

Like MicroStrategy’s “Bitcoin per share,” BitMine will track its “ETH per share” as a key investor gauge, with Lee saying the company will grow it through cash flow reinvestment, market activity, and — ideally — a rising Ethereum price.

But the cryptocurrency has been lacklustre in 2025: Ethereum trades at about $2,400, down 30% this year.

Worrying financials

To be sure, BitMine remains deeply unprofitable, despite a 150% surge in revenue in the past year.

The company lost about $3.3 million, and has a negative cash flow, according to its 2024 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, it holds just under $500,000 in cash, against $1.6 million in debt.

Coinbase analysts have already warned that MicroStrategy copycats pose systemic risk to the crypto ecosystem.

Indeed, the $280 million valuation that follows its Ethereum pivot likely reflects investor excitement more than financial fundamentals.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.