Currently, Ethereum is trading at around $3,00 per ETH. A reasonable base case is a choppy range roughly between $2,400 and $3,600 over the next 6-12 months, with limited upside unless macro and ETF flows decisively turn risk-on again.
summation
- BitMine added 171,264 ETH to staking, bringing its staking stack to approximately 1.94 million ETH, worth approximately $5.7 billion. Total holdings are close to 4 million ETH and supply target is 5%.
- Altcoin Vector estimates that 30% of all ETH is currently staked, arguing that Ethereum has become a core digital financial infrastructure and that ETH staking is the new “risk-free rate” for on-chain finance.
- With ETH trading below $3,000, Bitcoin around $89,000 and Solana around $128, BitMine’s BMNR stock is trending lower even as some analysts call Ethereum a compressed “sleeping giant.”
Ethereum price received an additional benefit from Tom Lee’s Ethereum bet. BitMine Technologies quietly staked an additional $500 million even as Ether was trading below the psychologically important $3,000 level. The move sharpens the questions hanging over the market. Is buying this kind of confidence hastening an ETH recovery, or simply deepening exposure to flotsam?
BitMine’s $5.7 billion Ethereum vault
BitMine staked an additional 171,264 ETH, bringing its total staking position to approximately 1.94 million ETH, or approximately $5.71 billion. Tom Lee’s company currently controls about 4 million ETH, or nearly 3.5% of the circulating supply, and has stated its goal of taking that share to 5%. Lee told investors in a January shareholder update that the company expects ETH Treasury to generate “over $400 million in annual staking income,” effectively turning BitMine into a leveraged play on the Ethereum yield curve.
Staking reaches “risk-free ratio” status
The broader market is moving in the same direction, albeit less aggressively. Research firm Altcoin Vector notes that “30% of total ETH supply is currently staked,” calling it a “historic milestone” that “fundamentally changes the narrative” as Ethereum “matured into the world’s most secure digital financial infrastructure.” In their view, by 2026, “ETH staking has become the de facto ‘risk-free rate’ of the digital economy.” This is a line that captures how on-chain yields are starting to function like benchmark sovereign debt in traditional markets.
Price pain, stock price low
BitMine’s assets have not yet been rewarded on that scale. BMNR is trading below $30, with cryptocurrency analyst Bryant describing the $27-$30 range as a “good accumulation range” and arguing that the stock is poised for a “monster move… $5,000, then $7,000,” which is more common in altcoin Telegram chats than Nasdaq filings. The reason is simple. ETH fell below $3,000 after being rejected near $3,350, with analysts warning that failure to claw back $3,050 would open the way for $2,600, while a break above $3,250 and $3,650 would confirm new upward momentum.
Market Outlook: “Sleeping Giant”
Despite the short-term weakness, some traders see it as coiled energy rather than a decline. Crypto analyst Merlijn The Trader calls Ethereum a “sleeping giant,” points to strengthening weekly compression, “maintaining lower lows,” and a “bullish reversal” in the MACD, arguing that ETH “will break the wedge and launch without further divergence.” This confidence reflects BitMine’s balance sheet. If ETH behaves like a high-beta, high-yield technical index, Lee is effectively buying both the asset and the emerging on-chain “risk-free” curve.
24-hour movement of major coins
Short-term tapes remain patchy. Bitcoin is trading around $89,000 to $90,000, and Bybit data shows a 24-hour range between approximately $88,558 and $90,212 on January 23, 2026. Ethereum changes hands near $2,950 and $2,965, with a 24-hour low around $2,909.60 and a high just above $3,020. Solana traded between about $127.10 and $130.30 during the same period, falling about 11% from last week to close to $128.