BitMine Immersion Technologies (ticker: BMNR), a publicly traded Ethereum treasury company, has been uplisted to the New York Stock Exchange effective Thursday, ending its time on the smaller NYSE American exchange. Shares opened on the new venue and have gained close to 1% since, recently trading around $21.75. The move marks a notable step for the firm as it seeks greater visibility among institutional investors.
BitMine Chairman Tom Lee described the transition as a significant achievement for the company. “The NYSE is the envy of capital markets around the world, and BitMine is proud to be the newest company traded on this exchange,” Lee said in a statement. The NYSE is commonly referred to as the “Big Board” due to its status as the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization.
Alongside the uplisting, BitMine’s board of directors approved a substantial expansion of its existing share buyback program, raising the authorized limit from $1 billion to $4 billion. Lee framed the move as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to its shareholders. He noted that the expanded program would allow the firm to repurchase common shares at times when they trade below intrinsic value, which he described as an accretive action for investors.
It does not appear that BitMine has yet deployed any funds under its buyback program. Decrypt contacted the company seeking confirmation and clarification but did not receive an immediate response. Other publicly traded digital asset treasury firms have adopted similar buyback strategies, typically activating repurchases when their market net asset value ratio, known as mNAV, falls below 1, indicating shares are trading at a discount to the underlying assets held.
Competing Ethereum treasury firm Sharplink (ticker: SBET), for instance, has committed to purchasing Ethereum only when its mNAV exceeds 1, and repurchases its own shares otherwise. Publicly available data suggests BitMine is currently trading below an mNAV of 1, yet the company has continued to acquire ETH rather than buy back shares, adding approximately $150 million worth of Ethereum in the prior week alone.
As of the time of the source report, BitMine’s intraday market capitalization stood at roughly $9.81 billion, according to data from Yahoo Finance. The firm holds more than 4.8 million ETH tokens, which at a price of $2,216 per coin represent over $10.6 billion in net assets. Additionally, the company holds around $14 million in Bitcoin and total cash holdings of approximately $864 million, bringing its combined holdings to around $11.4 billion, per a Monday press release.
Despite the uplisting milestone, BMNR shares have declined roughly 63% over the past six months of trading. That drop broadly tracks the performance of Ethereum itself, which has fallen approximately 55% from its August all-time high of $4,946. The firm’s trajectory will likely remain closely tied to ETH price movements given the scale of its cryptocurrency holdings relative to its market capitalization.
Originally reported by Decrypt.
