Crypto: BitMine’s Ethereum Bet Backfires With $8.83 Billion in Losses

BitMine would show nearly 8.83 billion dollars of latent losses on its Ethereum reserves, according to an estimate released on November 13, 2026. The figure has stirred the crypto market, but it deserves clarification: the calculation uses an average purchase price dating from August and assets declared in November. It therefore does not correspond to a loss officially announced by the company.

Crypto: BitMine faces 8.83 billion $ of estimated losses

The figure is spectacular. A table shared on November 13 by trader Flood, known under the pseudonym @ThinkingUSD, estimates BitMine’s latent capital loss on Ethereum at 8.83 billion dollars.

The company had already declared an annual net loss of 6.31 billion dollars, mainly related to the depreciation of its crypto assets. This new estimate, however, covers another period and is based on a different method.

The table shows 6,070,092 ETH held by BitMine, with an average acquisition cost of 3,380 dollars per token. It deduces a total investment of 20.52 billion dollars, against an estimated market value of 11.69 billion.

The gap is precisely 8,829,920,029 dollars, about 43% of the invested capital. Flood accompanies these figures with a harsh critique. He presents Ethereum as a candidate for the title of worst asset of all time, mentioning notably hacks, losses by retail investors, and resources devoted to developing its ecosystem.

This appraisal remains an opinion. The trader does not provide a quantified comparison to establish such ranking. As for the 8.83 billion dollars, it is a paper loss estimate. Nothing in this table proves that BitMine sold its ETH at a loss.

The calculation mixes two different periods

BitMine’s financial documents allow tracing the origin of the average purchase price used. As of August 31, 2026, the company held 5,901,837 ETH. Their total acquisition cost reached 19.95 billion dollars, for a market value of 14.56 billion. The average price thus came out to about 3,380 dollars per Ethereum.

These data appear in the annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 10. However, the table released by Flood applies this average price to the much larger reserves declared by BitMine at the beginning of November.

On November 9, the company announced holding 6,070,092 ETH as of November 8, or 4.97% of the Ethereum supply reported in its statement. It was then approaching its goal of controlling 5% of the tokens in circulation, after several weeks of additional purchases.

Multiplying these 6.07 million ETH by 3,380 dollars recovers the 20.52 billion dollars shown in the table. The problem is simple: the additional ETH acquired between August and November were not necessarily purchased at the same price.

The November 9 statement does not provide the updated average acquisition cost of the entire portfolio. It values the reserves at 2,234 dollars per ETH, according to its November 8 reference price. Flood’s table uses a different valuation, without specifying the exact time. Thus, the 8.83 billion cannot be presented as BitMine’s official latent loss.

Tom Lee maintains his bet on Ethereum

Despite the difficulties of the crypto market, BitMine has not abandoned Ethereum. Its president, Tom Lee, continues to defend the role of ETH in the tokenization of financial assets and the development of applications linked to artificial intelligence. He also considers Ethereum as an asset likely to serve as collateral in digital finance.

The company simultaneously seeks to generate income from its reserves. As of November 8, it reported having staked 5,227,037 ETH, about 86% of its holdings. Based on a recent yield of 2.65%, BitMine estimated its annualized rewards at 309 million dollars. This amount is a projection, not guaranteed income.

The accounting results remain heavy. For the fiscal year ended August 31, BitMine recorded about 6.23 billion dollars of latent losses on its digital assets. Its annual revenue reached 124.8 million dollars, including 121.4 million coming from staking and validation.

These revenues are not enough to offset a strong depreciation of Ethereum. BitMine’s bet therefore largely depends on the evolution of ETH price. A recovery would reduce latent capital losses, while a further drop would increase pressure on its balance sheet. Institutional demand also matters: in October, Ether ETFs recorded 1.2 billion dollars of net outflows. For BitMine, whose reserves approach 5% of Ethereum’s supply, crypto market fluctuations now amount to billions.