Corporate Ether treasuries have been hit hard by the recent market correction, leaving several firms with large unrealized losses.
BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate ETH holder, faces about $6.95 billion in unrealized losses after acquiring its Ether at an average price near $3,883 per token—well above the current roughly $2,240 level. SharpLink Gaming, the second-largest corporate Ether treasury, shows roughly $1.09 billion in paper losses after ETH fell below its average cost basis of about $3,609.
Those mark-to-market losses are squeezing Market Net Asset Value (mNAV) ratios, which compare a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. BitMine’s mNAV fell to 1, while SharpLink’s dropped to 0.92. An mNAV below 1 makes raising capital by issuing shares more difficult, potentially limiting these firms’ ability to buy more crypto. Asset manager Pantera Capital warned the downturn could trigger a “brutal pruning” of crypto treasury firms in 2026, favoring only the best-capitalized players.
The current pullback aligns with prior analysis from Tom Lee—BitMine’s chairman and Fundstrat co‑founder—who forecast a drawdown to around $1,800 for Ether in Q1 2026 before markets recover and rally into year-end.
The correction has already prompted some unwind activity. Hong Kong-based Trend Research sold 33,589 ETH—about $79 million at the time—closing leveraged positions at a loss. The firm borrowed roughly $77.5 million in USDT from Binance to repay loans and reportedly lowered its ETH liquidation threshold from $1,880 to $1,830. Trend Research still holds a long position of about 618,000 ETH (valued near $1.43 billion at the time of reporting) but shows an unrealized loss exceeding $534 million. Founder Jack Yi said the firm will wait for market recovery while managing risk, noting they were too early to return bullish after prior sales.
Despite the sell‑offs by some treasuries, on‑chain data show “smart money” traders accumulating spot Ether during the dip. Over the past week, smart-money addresses bought about $38.3 million in spot ETH, whales added roughly $5.47 million, and new wallets purchased about $31 million, according to crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
Cointelegraph’s reporting follows its editorial standards; readers are encouraged to verify details independently.
