BitMine Prices Preferred Shares at 9.5% Dividend Amid Ethereum Treasury Push

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the leading Ethereum treasury firm, priced a larger-than-expected preferred stock offering Friday, expecting to raise an estimated $273.8 million in a bet on Ethereum's growing role in institutional finance. The company, which trades under the ticker BMNR, sold 3.5 million shares of newly created Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock at $80 per share—up from the 3 million shares it had initially planned to offer.

The deal is set to close June 10, pending customary conditions. Moelis & Company and Cantor served as joint lead bookrunners. The preferred shares will carry a 9.50% annual dividend rate. The liquidation preference—the amount investors would receive in a wind-down—is designed to float upward based on recent market prices, though it cannot fall below $100 per share. Because nothing in crypto history has ever gone sideways when there's a stated floor.

The company has applied to list the new securities on the NYSE under the symbol BMNP. Proceeds from the offering may be used to acquire additional Ethereum and other digital assets, fund staking infrastructure through its newly launched MAVAN validator network, or buy back common shares.

The offering carries the risks typical of crypto-adjacent investments. BitMine's preferred dividend obligations are fixed regardless of how Ethereum prices move, meaning a prolonged downturn in digital asset markets could pressure the company's finances even as it seeks to attract institutional investors to its novel treasury model.

BitMine pivoted from Bitcoin mining to Ethereum treasury accumulation last summer, amassing billions of dollars in ETH and fueling a rally for both the coin and its shares with help from the high-profile addition of prominent investor Tom Lee as chairman. (Disclosure: Lee is an investor in Dastan, parent company of an editorially independent Decrypt.)

The firm now holds over $8.6 billion worth of Ethereum, making it the largest player by far among ETH-focused treasuries. However, Ethereum's collapse from an all-time high near $5,000 last August to a recent price of $1,591—a more than 67% drop—has put the firm's holdings more than $10 billion underwater, per data from DropsTab.

Bitcoin continued its recent dive on Friday, falling below the $60,000 mark for the first time since 2024. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap was recently trading at $59,909, down about 6% on the day and 18.5% over the last week. Other top coins have taken similar hits amid a broader market decline, with Ethereum down 23% on the week at a recent price of $1,555 and Solana falling 22% in the last seven days to $63.75. Bitcoin has now fallen more than 52% from its all-time high mark of $126,000.

BitMine's stock price has fallen substantially as well, recently trading at $16—a more than