Tom Lee’s Bitmine Soars After Ethereum Strategy, While Sharplink’s Drop Raises Red Flags

Sharplink Gaming made headlines recently with a massive 4,000% price rally after announcing a $450 million capital raise. But the excitement didn’t last—its shares plunged 90% in the following weeks, serving as a cautionary tale for investors chasing crypto-themed equity spikes.

Now, Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), a company led by Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee, is experiencing a similar surge. Its stock has more than doubled in a single day, crossing the $140 mark, and has soared over 3,000% in less than a week. The rally was triggered by Bitmine’s announcement that it would raise $250 million through a private offering to buy ether (ETH).

The offering, priced at $4.50 per share and scheduled to close today, has attracted significant interest from institutional players like Founders Fund, Pantera, FalconX, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, and Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Bitmine is positioning itself as a publicly traded proxy for ether exposure, similar to how MicroStrategy (MSTR) became a leveraged play on bitcoin. That positioning has drawn attention from investors eager for traditional market access to crypto assets.

Before the recent strategy shift, Bitmine was primarily a crypto miner specializing in immersion cooling. It also held around $16 million in bitcoin.

Echoes of Sharplink’s Rise—and Fall

Bitmine’s rally has strong parallels with Sharplink’s dramatic price action last month. Under the new leadership of Consensys co-founder Joseph Lubin, Sharplink repositioned itself as an ETH treasury company and saw its stock skyrocket following a $450 million fundraise. But after completing its ETH acquisition, the stock cratered—dropping more than 90% as early investors cashed out.

Bitmine’s current valuation reflects aggressive future assumptions about its ether holdings. The company now commands a market cap of over $800 million, and that figure could swell to about $7 billion once its new share issuance is fully factored in.

Given the past performance of Sharplink, investors jumping into Bitmine at these levels may want to proceed with caution.