Power Shift: BitMine’s $1B ETH Empire Now Overshadows Vitalik’s Foundation—Who Really Controls Ethereum?
Ethereum's power structure just got a seismic shake-up. BitMine, the crypto mining behemoth, now holds over $1 billion in ETH—surpassing the Ethereum Foundation's stash and sparking debates about decentralization's future.
Holdings that dwarf the founders
Vitalik Buterin's brainchild was built to resist corporate control. But with BitMine's war chest ballooning, the 'uncapturable' network faces its first true stress test. Mining pools now wield more ETH than the foundation meant to steward the protocol.
The irony? Ethereum's success created this monster. As institutional money floods in, the original cypherpunk ideals get diluted by pure financialization—another blockchain selling its soul to Wall Street's spreadsheet jockeys.
The corporate ETH land grab could reshape Ethereum’s future
BitMine’s MOVE to more than triple its Ethereum position in under a week appears to be more of a calculated strategy than an aggressive accumulation tactic. On July 14, the company disclosed that it had amassed $500 million worth of ETH barely five days after closing a $250 million PIPE sale.
At the time, that figure already raised eyebrows. But by July 17, BitMine’s stash had swelled to over $1 billion, confirming what many in the market suspected: the firm is executing a high-conviction strategy to corner a meaningful share of Ethereum’s supply, and to stake it.
Chairman Tom Lee made no secret of the ambition, stating the company’s goal is to accumulate and stake 5% of all ETH in circulation. That would give BitMine a seat at the table in Ethereum’s validator-driven security architecture and future governance conversations.
This rapid-fire accumulation has drawn both curiosity and capital. A regulatory filing this week revealed that Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund had taken a 9.1% stake in BitMine, sending BMNR shares up nearly 27% in pre-market trading on July 16.
The stock added another 7% following the latest disclosure, before retracing to $43.78 at the time of writing. While the Ethereum Foundation still shapes protocol-level development, BitMine now controls more ETH on paper, marking a symbolic, if not yet structural, shift in Ethereum’s evolving power map.
The move comes amid rising interest in Ether-based corporate treasuries, with firms like SharpLink Gaming also piling in. As of July 15, SharpLink held 280,706 ETH, valued at over $960 million, until BitMine leapfrogged it two days later.
The race to hold ETH isn’t just about exposure anymore. It’s about influence, staking power, and institutional signaling. And for now, BitMine appears to be leading the charge.
Ethereum had surged over 6% in the last 24 hours to exchange hands at $3,427 at the time of writing, crypto.news data shows.
