NEW YORK, March 26, 2026, 16:41 EDT.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies shares were last quoted down about 8% at $19.47 on Thursday, a day after the company launched its MAVAN Ethereum staking platform and after B. Riley lifted its price target on the stock to $33 from $30.
The move matters because Bitmine is trying to show investors it is more than a straight bet on ether prices. MAVAN, short for Made in America VAlidator Network, is meant to turn part of the company’s ether holdings into recurring staking income. Staking is the locking up of tokens to help validate blockchain transactions in return for rewards.
B. Riley analyst Fedor Shabalin wrote that the rollout marks a shift from passive ether treasury management to active staking infrastructure. The firm said about 67% of Bitmine’s holdings are already staked and that full deployment could support roughly $285 million of annualized rewards, while it kept a Buy rating on the shares. StreetInsider.com
A March 25 filing disclosed the launch. In a separate release, Chairman Tom Lee called MAVAN “a critical step in our vision” and said the platform would start with Bitmine’s own treasury before expanding to institutions, custodians and ecosystem partners.
As of March 24, Bitmine said it had 3,142,643 staked ETH worth about $6.8 billion, and that annual staking rewards could approach $300 million once most of its remaining unstaked tokens are moved onto MAVAN. The company said it staked another 101,776 ETH in the prior week. PR Newswire
Earlier this week, the company said total crypto and cash holdings stood at $11.0 billion, including 4.661 million ETH and $1.1 billion in cash. Lee said Bitmine had stepped up ether purchases over the prior three weeks as it bet the “mini-crypto winter” was close to ending.
Thursday’s trade showed BMNR is still moving with the rest of the crypto complex. Ether was down more than 4%, Coinbase fell about 4% and Cipher Digital lost nearly 10%, even as Bitmine tried to make the case that staking could open a steadier revenue stream. PR Newswire
But the shift carries its own risks. Bitmine’s reward targets depend on pushing more of its ether onto MAVAN and keeping yields and client demand intact. A deeper drop in ether prices, slower institutional uptake or operational setbacks would make those numbers harder to hit. PR Newswire
Bitmine still describes itself as a bitcoin miner with U.S. operations, even as it deploys excess capital into an ether treasury and staking business. Thursday’s selloff suggested investors still want proof that the new model can hold up when crypto prices turn lower. PR Newswire
