BitMine Stakes $1 Billion in Ether

BitMine Halts Sales Through Ether Staking

Recently, BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest holder of Ether (ETH), staked 342,560 ETH worth over $1 billion in just two days, according to blockchain data platform Lookonchain. This move highlights the growing trend of companies seeking passive income through staking, which reduces the available supply of Ether on the open market.

Staking involves locking ETH in Ethereum's proof-of-stake network to secure the blockchain in exchange for an annual passive yield (APY) of approximately 3-5%. BitMine is also impacting the Ethereum validator queue, with the incoming queue growing nearly twice the size of the outgoing queue for the first time in over six months.

The incoming validator queue currently stands at 12 days and 20 hours, with 739,824 ETH pending, while the outgoing queue is at 6 days and 2 hours, with 349,867 ETH waiting for withdrawal. This suggests that nearly twice as many entities are looking to stake ETH for passive income, signaling increased long-term confidence in Ether.

Among the major corporate Ether holders staking a significant portion of their ETH for passive income are SharpLink Gaming and The Ether Machine. SharpLink has stated that it has staked "almost all" of its Ether reserves, generating rewards of 9,701 Ether worth $29 million.

Despite the growing amount of staked Ether, the most successful traders in the industry continue to reduce their holdings of Ether on the spot market. This is reflected in the buying trend of "smart money" traders, who sold $4.26 million worth of Ether in the last week, while "whale" wallets purchased $11.6 million worth of Ether during the same period.