BitMine Immersion President Tom Lee rejected criticism of its mounting paper losses this week, saying the reduction reflected the design of its ethereum treasury strategy rather than a failure in execution.
In a series of posts on
However, with crypto markets in a downturn, the company said unrealized losses on its ETH holdings are inevitable.
“Cryptocurrencies are in a recession, so naturally ETH is going down,” Lee wrote, adding that paper losses “are not a bug, it’s a feature,” and questioning whether similar scrutiny applies to index funds during market declines.
These tweets miss the meaning of an ethereum treasury:
– BitMine is designed to track the price of $ETH
– overcome the cycle (think ETH)
– cryptocurrencies are in recession, so naturally ETH is going down$BMNR We will see “unrealized” losses on our ETH holdings during these times:
-… https://t.co/VpoNjAnJdC— Thomas (Tom) Lee (non-drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) February 3, 2026
The comments follow recent reports showing BitMine racking up more than $6 billion in unrealized losses after the ether crash reduced the value of its 4.24 million ETH holdings to about $9.6 billion from nearly $14 billion in October.
The company added more than 40,000 ETH shortly before the latest leg down, intensifying the focus on its balance sheet exposure.
BitMine has presented itself as an ether treasury company rather than a discretionary buyer, with its strategy focused on long-term ETH accumulation and staking performance rather than short-term price timing.
This is a similar approach used by some bitcoin-focused treasury firms, which argue that volatility is the cost of maintaining long-duration exposure to a core asset.
But the scale of BitMine’s holdings means that price swings have a huge impact on reported results, particularly during periods of low liquidity and forced selling in derivatives markets.
While the company had previously estimated annual betting revenue of around $164 million, that revenue provides only limited compensation during sharp declines.
Chairman Tom Lee has taken a more cautious tone on near-term market conditions, warning that cryptocurrencies are still going through a deleveraging phase that could extend into early 2026.
However, Lee’s latest comments make it clear that the company remains committed to its thesis.
“Simply put,” the company said, “ethereum is the future of finance.”
