Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has begun staking a large portion of its Ether holdings, marking a strategic shift in how it manages its digital assets.
On Sunday, multiple wallets linked to Bitmine transferred a combined 74,880 ETH into a contract labelled “BatchDeposit,” according to onchain data.
The deposits were valued at approximately $219 million based on prevailing Ether prices.
The BatchDeposit pattern is commonly associated with institutional staking setups that pool assets before activating validators.
Onchain analyst EmberCN flagged the transactions as Bitmine’s first confirmed move into Ethereum staking.
This is their first time staking, and they now hold 4.066 million ETH, with an approximate APY of 3.12%.
EmberCN said.
EmberCN added that if Bitmine were to stake its entire Ether balance, annual rewards could reach roughly 126,800 ETH.
At current market prices near $2,930 per ETH, that level of yield would translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in additional value.
The move signals a transition from passive treasury holding to active balance-sheet management.
Bitmine confirmed earlier this week that its Ethereum treasury had surpassed 4 million ETH for the first time.
The company disclosed that it now holds more than 4.06 million ETH following a $40 million purchase.
Over the past seven days, Bitmine added close to 100,000 ETH at an average price of around $2,991 per token.
The scale of accumulation places Bitmine among the largest known corporate holders of Ethereum globally.
Unlike short-term trading strategies, the firm’s approach has focused on long-term ownership and capital preservation.
The decision to begin staking suggests a shift towards generating yield from Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus layer.
Bitmine had previously outlined plans to enter staking later in its roadmap.
In November, the company said it intended to begin staking in the first quarter of 2026 through its Made-in America Validator Network.
That plan involved testing operations with selected institutional staking providers before scaling deployment.
The latest deposits suggest preparatory steps may already be underway ahead of the full rollout.
Analysts note that sending large amounts of ETH to batch deposit contracts often precedes validator activation.
Market observers say Bitmine could become one of the largest corporate contributors to Ethereum’s validator set.
The development reflects growing institutional confidence in Ethereum as a yield-generating infrastructure asset.
Expectations for Ethereum’s institutional role continue to rise as onchain use cases expand.
Industry executives have forecast sharp growth in Ethereum’s total value locked during 2026.
More than half of global stablecoin activity already runs on Ethereum, directly linking adoption to network fees and staking incentives.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $3,004.83.