BitMine Stakes $259M ETH Raising Ethereum Validator Queue To Near 1M

TLDR

Table of Contents

BitMine stakes 82,560 ETH worth $259M, bringing its total to 544,064 ETH.
Validator entry queue nears 1M ETH with a wait time of about 17 days.
Over 35.5M ETH is staked on Ethereum, representing around 29% of supply.
Exit queue remains low with only 113,000 ETH waiting to withdraw.

BitMine Immersion Technologies has staked an additional $259 million in Ether, increasing congestion in Ethereum’s validator entry queue. This recent move brings BitMine’s total staked ETH to over $1.6 billion as the queue nears 1 million ETH and waiting times stretch to 17 days for new validators.

Massive ETH Deposit Raises BitMine’s Staking Total to $1.6B

BitMine Immersion Technologies has staked an additional 82,560 ETH, valued at around $259 million. The deposits were made through Ethereum’s BatchDeposit contract in multiple transactions, as shown by Arkham onchain data.

This latest addition brings BitMine’s total staked ETH to 544,064 ETH. At current prices, this is valued at roughly $1.62 billion, according to Lookonchain, an onchain analytics firm. BitMine began staking ETH on December 26 with a transfer of nearly $219 million worth of Ether.

The company is preparing to run its staking operations through the Made-in-America Validator Network (MAVAN) infrastructure. It previously stated that it had selected three institutional staking providers to test the system before wider deployment.

Validator Entry Queue Nears 1 Million ETH

The latest deposits have added more pressure to Ethereum’s validator entry queue. As of now, nearly 977,000 ETH is in line to become active. This backlog has resulted in an estimated waiting period of close to 17 days for new validators.

In contrast, exit activity remains relatively low, with just over 113,000 ETH currently queued for withdrawal. Data from Ethereum Validator Queue confirms the growing imbalance between incoming and outgoing validators.

Update:
ETH validator entry queue is now bigger than the exit queue, for the first time in six months
The last time this happened in June, ETH doubled in price shortly after
2026 going to be a movie https://t.co/GWMCjxfigo pic.twitter.com/3dMttYpB4B
— Abdul (@0x_Abdul) December 28, 2025

Over 35.5 million ETH, or roughly 29% of the total ETH supply, is now staked. The annualized yield from staking remains steady at around 2.54%, according to current network metrics.

BitMine Expands Staking Strategy Through Institutional Channels

BitMine’s staking expansion aligns with its plan to build a validator network using U.S.-based infrastructure. The company previously shared in November that it would begin staking Ether in Q1 2026 using MAVAN.

The initial stage of the plan includes collaboration with three staking providers. BitMine has said it aims to evaluate each partner’s performance, security, and reliability before scaling operations.

BitMine’s staking strategy reflects a broader trend of growing institutional interest in Ethereum staking as a source of passive yield. The large-scale deposits are also contributing to the growing congestion in the validator queue.

BitMine Shareholder Plans and Market Outlook

BitMine’s chairman, Tom Lee, is advocating for a major share expansion. He has proposed increasing the company’s authorized shares to 50 billion. According to Lee, this is necessary to allow room for potential stock splits.

He argues that Ether’s price has a strong influence on BitMine’s stock valuation. Lee also modeled a scenario where ETH hits $250,000 if Bitcoin reaches $1 million. In that case, he said retail investors could be priced out without a share expansion.

As reported earlier by Cointelegraph, Lee’s push for more shares is based on projected growth in both the ETH price and BitMine’s stake value.