BitMine Boosts ETH Holdings Sharply
BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR) significantly boosted its ether (ETH) holdings last week, adding about $2 billion worth of tokens and bringing its total to nearly $5 billion, or over 1.15 million ETH. This marks a sharp rise from 833,137 ETH the week prior. Under Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, BMNR has transitioned from bitcoin mining to becoming a major ETH treasury, aiming to secure 5% of the total supply—valued at over $25 billion at current prices—through accumulation and staking.
The company’s stock has surged, climbing nearly 25% on Friday and another 10% in pre-market trading Monday to $57. BMNR also ranked as the 25th most traded U.S.-listed company last week, with $2.2 billion in daily trading volume—surpassing names like JPMorgan and Micron Technology. This aggressive ETH buying spree, mirrored by other crypto treasuries, contributed to ETH’s rally to new cycle highs above $4,300 over the weekend.
Stripe Quietly Builds Tempo Blockchain
Stripe is quietly developing a new blockchain called “Tempo,” according to a now-removed job posting on the Blockchain Association website. Described as a “high-performance, payments-focused blockchain,” Tempo is a layer 1 network compatible with Ethereum’s coding language and built in partnership with crypto venture firm Paradigm. The stealth project reportedly has a five-person team and targets Fortune 500 clients.
This move extends Stripe’s recent crypto push. In October, the $92 billion fintech acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion, and in June bought crypto wallet developer Privy. Stripe aims to strengthen its position in the rapidly growing stablecoin market, which is attracting major tech players like Meta, Apple, and Airbnb.
By owning a blockchain, Stripe could control another layer of the stablecoin transaction stack, potentially lowering costs and improving efficiency for cross-border payments. Stripe has not confirmed plans for a native token, and declined comment on the project.
Musk Threatens Apple With Antitrust Suit
Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple, accusing the tech giant of antitrust violations tied to its App Store rankings. Musk claims Apple is unfairly favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT over competitors like his Grok AI chatbot, owned by his startup xAI. “Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1,” he posted on X, calling it an “unequivocal” violation.
Musk also criticized Apple for excluding both X and Grok from its “Must-Have” apps list, despite Grok recently ranking as the fifth most downloaded free app. The dispute comes after Apple integrated ChatGPT into its devices last year, a move Musk called a “security violation.”
OpenAI recently launched GPT-5, while xAI released Grok 4 last month. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, left the board in 2018 and is now suing the company and CEO Sam Altman, alleging they strayed from their founding mission.
DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.