BitMine Immersion Technologies made its largest ETH purchase of 2026, acquiring 126,971 ETH worth approximately $214 million. The firm's chairman, Tom Lee, argued that the recent AI-assisted discovery of a vulnerability in privacy protocol Zcash actually strengthens Ethereum's use case as a hardened and reliable decentralized blockchain. The Zcash vulnerability caused ZEC's price to drop 40% before partially recovering. BitMine's total ETH treasury now stands at 5,543,872 ETH (≈$9.3 billion), with 85% staked via its MAVAN network, generating projected annual staking revenues of $230 million. Despite the purchase, Ethereum's price has fallen nearly 15% in the past week to around $1,686, and BitMine faces unrealized losses of about $9.7 billion on its holdings. The firm also announced a preferred share offering upsized to 3.5 million shares at $80 each, expected to net $274 million for further acquisitions.

Key facts

• BitMine bought 126,971 ETH (~$214M) in its largest ETH purchase of 2026.
• Chairman Tom Lee sees Zcash vulnerability as strengthening Ethereum's case.
• Zcash's ZEC token plunged 40% after AI-discovered flaw, then partially recovered.
• BitMine's total ETH treasury: 5,543,872 ETH (~$9.3B), 85% staked via MAVAN.
• Ethereum price fell ~15% last week; BitMine has $9.7B unrealized loss on holdings.

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