BitMine Shares Soar After Peter Thiel Investment

BitMine surged by close to 400% after it debuted in the US in May, and recently disclosed it holds over $500 million in Ethereum. Meanwhile, Vanguard became the largest institutional shareholder of Strategy (MSTR), despite publicly criticizing cryptocurrencies and refusing to offer Bitcoin ETFs. Separately, Bitcoin miner MARA expanded its BTC yield strategy by boosting its allocation with Two Prime from 500 to 2,000 BTC. BitMine Gains Big After Thiel Buys In Shares in BitMine Immersion Technologies surged 12.5% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the disclosure that billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel acquired a large stake in the company. According to a regulatory filing , Thiel bought 5.09 million shares through various entities under his Founders Fund, which amounts to a 9.1% ownership in the crypto mining service provider. The move happened during a flurry of crypto-related activity tied to Thiel, who is also known for co-founding PayPal and Palantir Technologies, and has a reported net worth of $22.7 billion. Peter Thiel Thiel has been increasingly active in the crypto and fintech space. Earlier this month, he joined other tech billionaires in applying for a bank charter for Erebor , a new financial institution that plans to fill the void left by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. Additionally, his firm was reportedly leading a $200 million funding round for prediction market platform Polymarket, valued at $1 billion. Meanwhile, Bullish, a Thiel-backed digital asset exchange, reportedly filed confidential paperwork to pursue an initial public offering. BitMine’s stock closed down 2.5% on Tuesday at $44.97 but rallied in after-hours trading. This allowed it to hit $48.50 at one point. Since its US debut on May 8 at $8 per share, BitMine’s stock soared by close to 400%. In its most recent quarterly report, the company announced a 67.5% year-on-year increase in net revenue and a 43.18% rise in net profits. BitMine share price over the past 24 hours (Source: Google Finance ) Another sign of its deepening crypto strategy is BitMine announcement on Monday that it now holds over $500 million in Ethereum (ETH) in its treasury. The company accumulated more than 163,000 ETH at an average purchase price of $3,072 per token. This massive acquisition was funded through a $250 million private placement that concluded on July 9. Vanguard Becomes Top Strategy Holder Even the most traditional forces in finance are becoming entangled in crypto’s influence. Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment firms, recently became the biggest institutional shareholder of Strategy (MSTR), the company led by Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor. According to data from Fintel , Vanguard now holds more than 20 million shares of MSTR, which accounts for roughly 8% of its Class A common stock. This gives the firm indirect exposure to more than 200,000 Bitcoin held on Strategy’s balance sheet. (Source: Fintel ) Strategy features in various Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs, including the widely held Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. Its position in Strategy arises from the firm’s passive investing strategy, which tracks broad market indices and includes companies regardless of their business models or leadership ideologies. Despite its exposure to Bitcoin through Strategy, Vanguard is still publicly skeptical of cryptocurrencies. The firm repeatedly warned investors about the risks of volatile digital assets and chose not to offer spot Bitcoin ETFs, even as rivals like BlackRock surged ahead. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has become its most profitable ETF and is expected to cross $100 billion in assets under management. Vanguard’s CEO Salim Ramji said in a May interview with Bloomberg TV that Vanguard prioritizes long-term dependability over chasing financial trends, and that the company is not in the business of speculative assets. In a separate interview with ETF.com, Ramji held firm that Bitcoin doesn’t align with Vanguard’s 50-year investment philosophy. The firm’s unexpected exposure to Bitcoin reignited conversations around the passive investing model. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out the irony by explaining that index funds must include all stocks in a benchmark — even those the managers may disapprove of. “God has a sense of humor,” Balchunas said , due to the paradox of one of Bitcoin’s biggest corporate holders being backed by one of its most vocal institutional critics. MARA Invests in Two Prime MARA Holdings also recently completed a minority acquisition of institutional investment adviser Two Prime. The deal included a $20 million equity investment, and it greatly increased MARA’s Bitcoin allocation with Two Prime from 500 BTC to 2,000 BTC. These holdings will be placed in a Separately Managed Account that is designed to generate yield. Two Prime is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It provides Bitcoin exposure and management services to institutional clients and professional investors. MARA’s decision to grow its stake in Two Prime forms part of its strategy to diversify and make better use of its Bitcoin holdings, which were initially built through self-mining and later expanded via stock sales. This pivot happened as Bitcoin miners, including MARA, face growing pressure after the latest halving event, which cut block rewards in half and reduced revenue potential across the industry. Despite posting a 30% increase in revenue to $214 million in the first quarter, MARA reported a net loss of $533 million, driven by rising energy and equipment costs. In response, many miners are now exploring alternative revenue models, including hosting AI data centers and repurposing infrastructure for high-performance computing. Competitor Core Scientific’s recent $9 billion acquisition by CoreWeaveis part of this trend, especially as CoreWeave is now considering shifting away from crypto mining entirely.

Source: Coinpaper