‘Don’t turn ETH into leveraged poker’

Vitalik Buterin recently cautioned against overleveraged ETH treasuries. Yet BitMine’s upsized stock offering suggests corporations are ignoring him. SharpLink, The Ether Machine, and others are also part of the wave, racing to hoard ETH. But what happens when the music stops?

According to a prospectus supplement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 12, BitMine Immersion Technologies has dramatically expanded its at-the-market stock offering from $4.5 billion to $24.5 billion, a fivefold increase in just weeks.

The Delaware-based firm, chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, said this figure includes an additional $20 billion of common stock available for sale, alongside earlier offerings totaling $4.5 billion. Per the filing, BitMine will execute these sales gradually through its designated sales agent Cantor Fitzgerald, with proceeds earmarked broadly for purchasing more Ethereum, debt repayment, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions.

The corporate ETH gold rush: Who holds what, and at what risk?

BitMine’s 1.15 million ETH treasury, worth roughly $5 billion at current prices, now dwarfs every other corporate holder, including Joe Lubin’s SharpLink and The Ether Machine, which hold 598,800 ETH and 345,400 ETH, respectively.

Even the Ethereum Foundation, long the network’s largest non-corporate stakeholder, holds just 232,600 ETH by comparison. This aggressive accumulation has propelled Ethereum’s price upward, with ETH gaining 5.4% in 24 hours following BitMine’s latest filing, according to crypto.news data. The trend mirrors Bitcoin’s 2020-2021 bull run, when Strategy’s treasury buys became a self-fulfilling price catalyst.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledges the upside of this corporate embrace. In a recent Bankless podcast interview, the Ethereum co-founder argued that publicly traded holders like BitMine broaden ETH’s investor base, offering exposure to those who “can’t or won’t” hold the asset directly.

Yet he remains cautious, warning that overleveraging could transform these holdings into a precarious, high-stakes game of “leveraged poker.” Despite his concerns, Buterin expressed confidence that today’s ETH holders are disciplined enough to avoid cascading failures.

Still, some industry insiders point out a sharp contrast in his stance compared to last year, when he criticized Bitcoin treasury companies and questioned the long-term wisdom of institutional accumulation strategies that invite regulatory capture.

From ‘batshit insane’ to qualified blessing: Buterin’s contradictory stance

Just last year, the Ethereum co-founder dismissed Bitcoin treasury strategies as “batshit insane,” mocking Michael Saylor’s reliance on “regulated public entities” like BlackRock to legitimize crypto.

The contradiction hasn’t gone unnoticed. Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, was among the first to highlight Buterin’s pivot. Where Bitcoin’s corporate adoption drew his ire, Ethereum’s gets a qualified blessing, a discrepancy that underscores how deeply tribal narratives still run in crypto.

For now, the market seems content to follow the money. BitMine’s stock surged 14.7% this week, and Tom Lee’s prediction of a “$30,000 ETH” gains traction. But as treasury balances swell, so does the risk of a liquidity crisis. Buterin’s warning lingers: if these bets turn sour, the fallout could ripple far beyond Wall Street. The music hasn’t stopped yet, but when it does, the dance floor is getting crowded.