BitMine Boosts Ethereum Staking with $259 Million Worth of Ether
BitMine Immersion Technologies has made a significant addition to Ethereum’s staking system, depositing an extra 82,560 Ether, valued at approximately $259 million. This move has contributed to the growing congestion in the network’s validator entry queue, as institutional demand for yield continues to rise. According to data from Arkham, BitMine’s Ether treasury has increased its staking to 544,064 Ether, worth around $1.62 billion at current prices.
Data from on-chain analyst Lookonchain reveals that BitMine has been making large deposits to Ethereum’s BatchDeposit contract over the last few hours. This development comes after the company began staking ETH on December 26th, transferring nearly $219 million worth of ETH into staking-related contracts on the Ethereum network. In November, BitMine announced plans to start staking Ether in the first quarter of 2026 using its internal infrastructure, the Made-in-America Validator Network (MAVAN).
Ethereum Validator Queue Nears 1 Million ETH
The entry queue for the Ether validator is approaching one million ETH, with an estimated wait time of nearly 17 days for new validators to activate, according to blockchain explorer Ethereum Validator Queue. Meanwhile, exit activity remains relatively low, with just over 113,000 ETH awaiting withdrawal. 
Ethereum validator queue. Source: ValidatorQueue
Ethereum network data shows that more than 35.5 million ETH, or about 29% of the total supply, is now staked, while the annual staking return is approximately 2.54%. Abdul, the head of DeFi at layer-1 blockchain Monad, has commented on the growing institutional interest in Ethereum staking. As Cointelegraph reported, BitMine CEO Tom Lee is driving massive stock expansion at the company, urging shareholders to approve a large increase in the company’s authorized share count to 50 billion.
BitMine’s Aggressive Staking Push
Lee argues that the move is necessary to allow for future stock splits should the price of Ether drive up BitMine’s valuation. He has modeled scenarios in which Ether hits $250,000 if Bitcoin rises to $1 million, a level that would drive BitMine shares to prices he believes would overwhelm most retail investors. For more information on BitMine’s staking activities and the growing demand for Ethereum, visit Cointelegraph.
