rewrite this title BitMine’s $126M Ethereum buy sets up a Russell index test tied to $12.2T in assets

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BitMine bought an additional 60,000 ETH worth about $126 million as Ethereum traded near $2,000, extending one of the largest corporate accumulation strategies tied to the second-largest digital asset.

The purchase came just as the firm was named to the preliminary list for the Russell 1000 Index, positioning the crypto holder to capture a slice of the $12.2 trillion in assets benchmarked against Russell US Indexes.

Why BitMine is adding to its Ethereum holdings during current selloff

On May 23, blockchain analyst EmberCN reported BitMine’s latest ETH purchase was executed through BitGo and Kraken.

The purchase lifted BitMine’s Ethereum holdings to more than 5.2 million ETH, valued at roughly $11.1 billion at current market prices. The company has continued to accumulate even as ETH trades near $2,000, which is about 60% below its August 2025 record high of $4,953.

Notably, this latest purchase occurs about two weeks after the company signaled its intent to slow the pace of its ETH accumulation.

However, BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee previously described ETH’s recent decline below $2,200 as an attractive entry point.

According to him, the pullback has provided an opportunity to add to its ETH exposure ahead of any potential recovery in digital assets. Lee stated that the recent regulatory developments around the CLARITY Act could bolster growth in the emerging industry.

As a result, his firm has continued to increase its exposure to the cryptocurrency in anticipation of the growth.

Meanwhile, BitMine’s strategy mirrors the corporate treasury model popularized by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) but shifts the focus from Bitcoin to Ethereum.

That distinction gives BitMine’s balance sheet a different profile because Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system allows holders to generate staking rewards rather than relying only on price appreciation.

BitMine operates MAVAN, an Ethereum staking platform that adds a yield component to its treasury approach. The company has staked more than $10 billion of its Ethereum holdings, tying part of its balance sheet return to ETH’s network economics.

That structure gives investors a cleaner way to evaluate BitMine’s strategy: the company is buying ETH into weakness, staking a large portion of its holdings, and seeking to turn that exposure into an equity-market instrument accessible to traditional investors.

Russell preliminary list adds another channel

Beyond its treasury expansion, BitMine has been added to the preliminary list for the 2026 Russell 3000 Index.

FTSE Russell released the initial reconstitution data on May 22, with the final index composition scheduled to take effect at the end of June.

Lee said BitMine’s market capitalization could place BMNR in the Russell 1000, the large-cap segment of the broader Russell 3000 Index, rather than the Russell 2000.

That distinction is significant for the company’s investor base. The Russell 3000 tracks about 3,000 of the largest US companies and represents nearly the entire investable US equity market. The Russell 1000 covers the largest names in that group, while the Russell 2000 captures smaller companies.

This index inclusion could change who owns BitMine’s stock, as the funds benchmarked to Russell indexes often adjust portfolios around index reconstitution, while some active managers use those benchmarks to define the pool of eligible holdings.

Lee has also argued that many active managers focus on Russell 1000 constituents, and that passive funds and ETFs can hold a meaningful share of a company’s market capitalization once it is included in major benchmarks.

Crypto treasury stocks move deeper into public indexes

BitMine’s Russell path comes as more crypto-linked companies push into mainstream equity benchmarks.

SharpLink Gaming, another public company with an Ethereum treasury strategy, has also been linked to Russell index inclusion.

SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom said the company is expected to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on June 29, calling the move an important milestone because of the capital tied to those benchmarks.

According to him:

“Approximately $12.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked against the Russell US Indexes, with roughly 16% using the Russell 2000 as their reference point. Inclusion places SBET inside the passive and active flows that track these benchmarks.”

The preliminary Russell materials also include other crypto-related companies, including Gemini Space Station (GEMI) and Galaxy Digital (GLXY), as well as Iris Energy and Soluna.

That group reflects a broader shift in which crypto exposure is no longer confined to tokens, private funds, or spot ETFs.

Meanwhile, these additions follow the precedent established by Strategy’s MSTR. The Michael Saylor-led firm entered the Russell 1000 in June 2024 and subsequently graduated to the Top 200 Value Index in 2025