BitMine Adds $76M in ETH as Standard Chartered Flags Relative Edge Over Bitcoin

Ethereum just got a fresh dose of corporate conviction. BitMine Immersion Technologies picked up 24,266 ETH—about $76 million—over the past week, taking its treasury to more than 4.16 million ETH worth roughly $13 billion. That makes BitMine the largest Ethereum treasury holder and the second-largest crypto treasury overall, trailing only Strategy’s Bitcoin cache, valued near $63 billion. BitMine now controls about 3.5% of ETH’s circulating supply.

Chairman Tom Lee framed 2026 as a rebuilding year after the October 10 deleveraging that wiped out around $19 billion of positions in a single day. He expects stablecoin usage and tokenization to pull blockchains into Wall Street settlement flows, with Ethereum best positioned. Lee has been clear about his stance: he’s pitched a “100x ETH supercycle” and a long-run price target of $250,000 per ETH.

A new note from Standard Chartered aligns with the relative argument, if not the magnitude. Analyst Geoff Kendrick cited several drivers for ETH to outperform Bitcoin, highlighting BitMine’s persistent accumulation as a differentiator at a time when inflows have slowed across ETFs and digital asset corporate treasury firms (DATs). The bank now projects $7,500 for ETH in 2026—down from $12,000 previously—while lifting longer‑term targets to $30,000 by 2029 and $40,000 by 2030. On Bitcoin, its once-2029 $500,000 target has been pushed to 2030. The bank’s message: absolute paths may be softer in the near term, but the ETH-BTC ratio could narrow.

One dynamic matters most here: treasury concentration as a market-structure force. When a listed company steadily warehouses ETH—now 3.5% of supply—the free float tightens just as staking, burn mechanics, and real-world settlement demand seek the same units. That combination can change how price responds to marginal flows. It also shapes behavior. Large, visible balance-sheet buyers often become narrative anchors for allocators looking for signals amid slower ETF momentum, and they reduce perceived left-tail risk for holders who believe these treasuries won’t be quick sellers. The flip side is obvious: concentration risk and governance questions if a single corporate actor becomes pivotal to market liquidity or price discovery. Ethereum’s credibility leans on open access and neutrality; any perception that policy or liquidity bends around a few balance sheets can unsettle participants even as it supports price.

For traders, this is a relative trade thesis, not a victory lap. Standard Chartered’s $40,000 ETH case implies nearly a 1,200% climb from Monday’s price, and the bank still marked down near-term expectations due to weaker performance across digital assets. As of publication, ETH traded around $3,132—flat on the day and about 37% below its 2025 peak of $4,496. BitMine shares (BMNR) were recently up more than 3% at $31.04.

If stablecoin settlement and tokenization continue to migrate toward Ethereum while a listed treasury methodically retires float, the setup favors ETH on a relative basis. It won’t remove cyclicality, but it does change the elasticity of supply when risk appetite returns.