Bitmine announces $74M Ether buys as chair says ‘greater chances of Clarity Act passage’

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, holding one of the largest Ether (ETH) stockpiles as part of its treasury strategy, said Monday it added of $74 million worth of the second-biggest crypto by market cap, in contrast with Strategy, a major Bitcoin (BTC) holder, which offloaded coins to fund its dividend payments.

Bitmine said that it held 5,742,237 ETH as of Sunday, marking an increase of 42,197 Ether since it reported on its holdings last week. The ETH holdings were reported when the token was valued at about $1,759, making its most recent buys worth about $74 million. The price of ETH has since increased to $1,792 apiece at the time of publication.

Bitmine chair Tom Lee said optimism about the passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in the US was an “important milestone” that could allow “smart contract platforms like ethereum to benefit” among the company’s reasons for maintaining its treasury strategy, adding:

“[T]he rise in the ETH/BTC ratio in the past few days make sense as markets start to see greater chances of Clarity Act passage.”

Prediction market traders see about a 48% chance for passage of the Clarity Act by year end. Source: Polymarket

The latest buy means Bitmine holds about 4.8% of the token’s total supply, or roughly 121 million ETH. Strategy on Monday reported selling $216 million worth of BTC to fund its dividend payments, reducing its total holdings to 843,775 Bitcoin.

Related: Bitcoin nears $63.5K into weekly close as trader warns of ‘terrible’ Monday

Market structure bill awaiting Senate approval

The CLARITY Act, under consideration in the US Senate, is expected to be one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting the crypto industry, giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority in regulating and overseeing digital assets. 

Republican lawmakers are pushing for a vote on the bill once the chamber returns from their state work periods next week, but it’s unclear whether enough Democrats will sign onto the legislation without clear provisions on ethics. The CLARITY ACT will need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

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