Bitmine selected for the Russell 3000 Index, Tom Lee optimistic about further upgrades to the large-cap portfolio: passive funds will soon automatically buy in

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said that ETH inventory company Bitmine has been shortlisted for the preliminary list of the Russell 3000 Index, with the potential to be directly elevated into the Russell 1000 large-cap index, prompting passive funds to automatically buy its shares.
(Background: Bitmine has been buying up nearly 42,000 ETH! Total holdings have expanded to 4.285 million ETH.)
(Additional context: Tom Lee is confident, saying Ethereum could reach $12,000 by year-end.)

Table of contents

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• FTSE Russell restructuring schedule
• From $135 to $18.88: Bitmine’s headwinds and counterattack
• Unrealized loss of $7.3 billion, but staking revenue reaches $289 million
• Taiwan context: The leverage effect of index inclusion

Bitmine has been shortlisted for the preliminary list of the Russell 3000 Index. On Saturday, Chairman Tom Lee said on X that, based on Bitmine’s current market capitalization of $10.15 billion, it fully meets the threshold of at least $5.7 billion required for the Russell 1000 large-cap index. The Russell 1000 includes the 1,000 U.S. companies with the largest market capitalizations. After being selected, it will be grouped alongside companies such as NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, and others.

Lee noted that “many active fund managers only buy Russell 1000 constituent stocks,” and estimated that after the selection, up to 25% of market value could be held by passive index funds and ETFs. If Bitmine is successfully selected, passive capital will automatically buy in, and traditional investors will indirectly hold Bitmine’s Ethereum positions.

FTSE Russell restructuring schedule

FTSE Russell (a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group) announced the preliminary Russell 3000 list this past Friday. The key upcoming milestones are:

• June 5, June 12, June 18: release updated lists
• After U.S. market close on June 26: the new index officially takes effect

This means that if Bitmine maintains eligibility in the subsequent updates, it will officially become a Russell large-cap index constituent by the end of June.

From $135 to $18.88: Bitmine’s headwinds and counterattack

Bitmine’s stock price has fallen by more than 30% year to date, and closed at $18.88 this Friday. Looking back at the price action:

• July 2025: announced an Ethereum inventory strategy
• July 3: the stock surged to over $135
• July 14: disclosed holdings of 163,142 ETH (about $500 million)

As of last week, Bitmine had accumulated 5.28 million ETH, representing about 4.37% of Ethereum’s total supply. The company’s goal is to hold 5% of circulating supply (about 120.7 million ETH), which would still require the acquisition of approximately 756,538 more ETH.

Unrealized loss of $7.3 billion, but staking revenue reaches $289 million

Ethereum’s price has dropped by more than 57% from its all-time high of $4,946. Due to the decline in the stock price, Bitmine has generated an unrealized loss of about $7.3 billion on its books. However, Lee said last Monday that the company has allocated most of its holdings into staking, generating annualized revenue of $289 million.

Taiwan context: The leverage effect of index inclusion

The significance of being included in the Russell 1000 is not the title itself, but the automatic allocation of passive capital. The “0050 TSMC weighting effect” that Taiwan investors are familiar with also applies here: once passive ETFs track the index, funds will flow in automatically according to their market-value proportions. Based on Bitmine’s current market cap of $10.15 billion, if 25% of market value is held by passive funds, about $250 million of new capital would be forced to be allocated to BMNR.

For an ETH inventory strategy, this is an additional boost: passive funds buy shares, and the company uses that capital to buy ETH, creating a positive feedback loop. The issue is that Bitmine needs to keep its market cap above $5.7 billion; if the ETH price continues to fall and drags down the stock price, its eligibility could also be lost in later updates.