Bitmine big pump 37 times! A review of those listed companies that experienced outrageous rises after buying coins.

Written by: Oliver, Mars Finance

Introduction

The capital markets are never short of jaw-dropping stories, but few narratives unfold with such extreme madness in such a short time as that of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR). In June 2025, this previously obscure company saw its stock price rocket after announcing its Ethereum (ETH) reserve strategy. The day before the strategy announcement, its closing price was just $4.26, but in the following trading days, the stock price soared to as high as $161, with a peak increase approaching a staggering 37 times.

The catalyst for this dramatic event was an announcement released on June 30, 2025: Bitmine would raise $250 million through a private placement at a price of $4.50 per share, with the core purpose of this funding being solely to acquire Ethereum and make it the company’s primary reserve asset. This move not only lifted its stock price from the gravitational pull, but more importantly, it revealed a profound transformation quietly emerging and accelerating in the business world.

The first draft of this transformative script was written by MicroStrategy in 2020, pioneering the transformation of publicly traded companies into cryptocurrency investment vehicles. However, the case of Bitmine marks the entry of this script into version 2.0—a new phase that is more radical and has greater narrative impact. It is no longer just about replicating MicroStrategy's Bitcoin path, but rather about choosing Ethereum as a different underlying asset and cleverly placing Wall Street's renowned analyst Tom Lee as the chairman, creating an unprecedented combination of market catalysts.

Is this a new paradigm of sustainable value creation that cleverly utilizes financial engineering and profound insights into the future of digital assets? Or is it a dangerous bubble driven by speculative sentiment, where company stock prices are completely decoupled from fundamentals? This article will delve into this phenomenon, from the "Bitcoin Standard" of pioneer MicroStrategy, to the varied fates of its global followers, and to the hidden market mechanisms behind the surge of Bitmine, attempting to reveal the truth of this alchemy in the digital age.

Chapter One: Genesis - The Forging of MicroStrategy and the "Bitcoin Standard"

The starting point of the current wave is MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) and its visionary (or considered reckless) CEO Michael Saylor. In 2020, this company, which had struggled with stagnant core software business growth, embarked on a bet that would fundamentally change its fate.

In the summer of 2020, the world was under the unprecedented monetary easing policies triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Saylor keenly realized that the company's $500 million cash reserves were facing severe inflation erosion. He vividly compared this cash to a "melting ice cube," whose purchasing power was disappearing at a rate of 10% to 20% per year. Against this backdrop, finding a means of storing value that could counteract currency devaluation became a top priority for the company. Thus, on August 11, 2020, MicroStrategy officially dropped a bombshell in the market: the company had spent $250 million to acquire 21,454 bitcoins as its primary corporate reserve asset. The day before the announcement (August 10), its stock price closed at $12.36. This decision was not only a bold innovation in financial management for a publicly traded company but also a landmark event that provided a reference blueprint for future players.

MicroStrategy's strategy quickly evolved from using existing cash reserves to a more aggressive model: utilizing the capital markets as its "ATM" for Bitcoin. The company raised billions of dollars through the issuance of convertible bonds and conducting At-the-Market (ATM) stock offerings, almost all of which was used to continuously increase its Bitcoin holdings. This model created a unique flywheel: using soaring stock prices to obtain low-cost funds, which are then invested in Bitcoin, while the rise in Bitcoin prices further boosts stock prices. However, this path has not been smooth sailing. The crypto market winter of 2022 posed a severe stress test for MicroStrategy's leveraged model. As Bitcoin prices plummeted, its stock price was also severely impacted, and market focus momentarily shifted to the default risk of a $205 million Bitcoin collateralized loan by the company.

Despite undergoing severe trials, MicroStrategy's model ultimately prevailed. As of mid-2025, through this relentless accumulation, its Bitcoin holdings have surpassed an astonishing 590,000 coins, and the company's market value has skyrocketed from a small company worth less than $1 billion to a giant with a market value exceeding $100 billion. Its true innovation lies not just in purchasing Bitcoin, but in reshaping the entire company's structure from a software company to a 'Bitcoin development company.' It provides investors with a unique, tax-advantaged, and institution-friendly Bitcoin exposure through the public market. Saylor himself even likens it to a 'leveraged Bitcoin spot ETF.' It does not simply hold Bitcoin; rather, it has transformed itself into the most important Bitcoin acquisition and holding machine in the public market, creating an entirely new category of public companies - the proxy tool for crypto assets.

Chapter Two: Global Disciples - Comparative Analysis of Transnational Cases

MicroStrategy's success has ignited the imagination of the global business community. From Tokyo to Hong Kong, and to other corners of North America, a group of "disciples" has begun to emerge, some fully replicating and others cleverly adapting, presenting a series of精彩纷呈 yet varied capital stories.

Note: The stock price and holding amount are approximate values, calculated based on available data, and the peak increase is a rough estimate.

The Japanese investment company Metaplanet (3350.T) has been dubbed the "Japanese version of MicroStrategy" by the market. Since launching its Bitcoin strategy in April 2024, its stock price performance has been nothing short of astonishing, with an increase of over 20 times. Metaplanet's success has a unique local factor: Japan's tax laws allow local investors to indirectly invest in Bitcoin by holding its stocks, which is more advantageous than directly holding cryptocurrencies.

Meitu Inc. (1357.HK) serves as a crucial warning. In March 2021, this company, known for its photo editing software, announced its purchase of cryptocurrency, but this attempt did not lead to the expected surge in stock prices; instead, it fell into the quagmire of financial reporting due to old accounting standards. The company's CEO, Wu Xinhong, later reflected that this investment diverted the company's focus and resulted in a negative correlation between the stock price and the crypto market—"When Bitcoin plummets, our stock immediately drops, but when Bitcoin rises, our stock doesn’t rise much either."

In the U.S. mainland, there have emerged two distinctly different imitators. The medical technology company Semler Scientific (SMLR) is a representative of radical transformation, as it almost completely copied MicroStrategy's playbook in May 2024, resulting in a surge in its stock price. In contrast, the fintech giant Block (SQ), led by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has taken an earlier and more moderate integration approach, with its stock performance being more closely tied to the health of its core fintech business.

Japanese gaming giant Nexon (3659.T) provides a perfect contrasting case. In April 2021, Nexon announced the purchase of $100 million worth of Bitcoin, but explicitly defined this move as a conservative financial diversification operation, using less than 2% of its cash reserves. Therefore, the market's reaction was also extremely muted. The example of Nexon strongly proves that it is not the act of 'buying coins' itself that triggers stock prices, but rather the narrative of 'All in'—that is, the aggressive stance of the company deeply binding its fate to crypto assets.

Chapter Three: Catalyst - Deconstructing the Bitmine Surge

Now, let’s return to the eye of the storm—Bitmine (BMNR), and conduct a thorough dissection of its unprecedented surge in stock price. The success of Bitmine is not coincidental, but rather the result of a meticulously crafted "alchemy formula."

Surge Anatomy - BMNR Stock Price Performance (June - July 2025)

First is the differentiated narrative of Ethereum. Against the backdrop of Bitcoin no longer being a fresh story as a corporate reserve asset, Bitmine has carved out a new path by choosing Ethereum, providing the market with a more futuristic and application-oriented narrative. Second is the power of the "Tom Lee Effect". Appointing Tom Lee, the founder of Fundstrat, as chairman is the most powerful catalyst in the entire event. His joining instantly injected tremendous credibility and speculative appeal into this small-cap company. Finally, there is the endorsement from top institutions. This private placement is led by MOZAYYX, and the participant list prominently includes top crypto venture capitals and institutions such as Founders Fund, Pantera, and Galaxy Digital, greatly boosting retail investors' confidence.

This series of operations indicates that the market for this type of crypto proxy stock has become highly "reflexive," where the driving force of its value is no longer solely the assets held, but rather the "quality" of the story it tells and its "viral传播potential." The true driving force is the perfect narrative cocktail made up of "novel assets + celebrity effect + institutional consensus."

Chapter Four: The Invisible Engine Room - Accounting, Regulation, and Market Mechanisms

The formation of this wave cannot be separated from some invisible but crucial structural pillars underneath it. The most important structural catalyst behind this new wave of corporate cryptocurrency purchases in 2025 is undoubtedly the new regulation issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB): ASU 2023-08. This guideline, which will officially take effect in 2025, fundamentally changes how public companies account for cryptocurrency assets. According to the new regulation, companies must measure their held cryptocurrency assets at Fair Value, with each quarter's value fluctuations directly recorded in the income statement. This replaces the old rule that had caused headaches for CFOs, clearing a significant obstacle for companies adopting cryptocurrency asset strategies.

Building on this, the operational core of these crypto proxy stocks lies in a clever mechanism highlighted by analysts from institutions such as Franklin Templeton—the "Premium-to-NAV Flywheel." The stock prices of these companies typically trade at prices significantly higher than the net asset value (NAV) of the crypto assets they hold. This premium endows them with a powerful "magic": the company can issue new shares at high prices and use the cash obtained to purchase more crypto assets. Since the issuance price is above the NAV, this operation is "value-enhancing" for existing shareholders, thereby creating a positive feedback loop.

Finally, in 2024, the Bitcoin spot ETF led by BlackRock was approved and achieved great success, fundamentally changing the landscape of crypto investment. This poses a complex dual impact on corporate reserve strategies. On one hand, the ETF represents a direct competitive threat that could theoretically erode the premium of proxy stocks. On the other hand, the ETF is also a powerful ally, bringing unprecedented institutional funds and legitimacy to Bitcoin, which in turn makes it seem less radical and unconventional for companies to include it in their balance sheets.

Summary

Through the analysis of this series of cases, we can see that corporate crypto reserve strategies have evolved from a niche hedging tool against inflation into a radical new paradigm of capital allocation that reshapes corporate value. It blurs the lines between operating companies and investment funds, transforming the public equity market into a super leverage for large-scale accumulation of digital assets.

This strategy demonstrates its astonishing duality. On one hand, pioneers like MicroStrategy and Metaplanet have created immense wealth effects in a short period by skillfully navigating the "net asset value premium" flywheel. On the other hand, the success of this model is inextricably linked to the wild volatility of crypto assets and the speculative sentiment of the market, which carries immense risks. The cautionary tales of Meitu's past, as well as the leverage crisis faced by MicroStrategy during the crypto winter of 2022, clearly warn us that this is a high-risk game.

Looking to the future, with the full implementation of the new FASB accounting standards and the success of Bitmine's "Ethereum + Influencer" new script, we have reason to believe that the next wave of corporate adoption may be brewing. In the future, we may see more companies turning their attention to a more diverse range of digital assets and utilizing more mature narrative techniques to attract capital. This grand experiment taking place on corporate balance sheets will undoubtedly continue to profoundly reshape the intersection of corporate finance and the digital economy.