The Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has initiated staking operations, depositing approximately $219 million in ETH into the Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) ecosystem. This significant move was marked by multiple wallet transactions on Sunday, where Bitmine transferred a total of 74,880 ETH to a contract identified as “BatchDeposit,” according to on-chain analytics from Arkham.
As noted by EmberCN in a post on X, Bitmine, recognized as the largest Ethereum treasury company, has made its first attempt at staking its Ether holdings to generate interest income. Currently, Bitmine holds about 4.066 million ETH, with an estimated annual percentage yield (APY) of 3.12%. Should all of its holdings be staked, the firm could potentially earn around 126,800 ETH in interest over the course of a year, which translates to a value of approximately $371 million at the current ETH price of $2,927.
Bitmine”s deposits into the PoS system come after the firm reported surpassing 4 million tokens in its Ether treasury for the first time. Just this week, Bitmine confirmed that its holdings exceeded 4.06 million ETH following a recent acquisition of $40 million worth of Ether. Over the past week, Bitmine has augmented its balance by nearly 100,000 ETH, purchasing at an average price of $2,991 per token.
Looking ahead, Bitmine has ambitious plans to establish its staking operations further. In November, the company announced intentions to begin Ether staking by the first quarter of 2026 with a dedicated in-house initiative known as the Made-in America Validator Network (MAVAN). During this period, Bitmine plans to engage with three institutional staking providers for a pilot program, utilizing a fraction of its ETH to evaluate performance, security, and operational quality prior to a full-scale rollout.
Additionally, industry experts are optimistic about Ethereum”s total value locked (TVL) potentially increasing tenfold by 2026. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink Gaming, the second-largest public Ethereum treasury holder with nearly 798,000 ETH, predicts that stablecoins will be a primary driver of this growth, anticipating stablecoin market capitalization to reach $500 billion by the end of next year. Given that a substantial portion of stablecoin transactions already occurs on Ethereum, consistent issuance and transaction growth could significantly enhance the network”s TVL.
