Ethereum's sharpest single-day gain in months added $2.2 billion to the largest ETH treasury company's balance sheet and drew fresh institutional backing for the token as an AI infrastructure layer.
Ethereum's sharpest single-day gain in months added $2.2 billion to the largest ETH treasury company's balance sheet and drew fresh institutional backing for the token as an AI infrastructure layer.

Ethereum rose 20% to $2,200 in 24 hours, lifting Bitmine Immersion Technologies' crypto reserves by $2.2 billion to $13.2 billion, according to CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn.
The rally pushed the altcoin to a two-month high and marked its biggest single-day jump in months, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits flipping to "extremely bullish" from "bearish" over the past day.
Bitmine, the largest Ethereum treasury company, holds 5.815 million ETH, nearly 4.8% of the token's circulating supply. The company has staked 87% of its reserves, generating roughly $250 million in annual income, and has bought ETH weekly for more than a year. Its portfolio was valued at $11 billion at the start of the week.
Despite the jump, the position remains underwater: Bitmine invested $19.49 billion at an average purchase price of $3,357.63 per ETH, leaving a global unrealized loss of $6.09 billion, or 31.25%, according to DropsTab data.
The move rippled across crypto-linked equities. Bitcoin rose nearly 11% to above $71,600, triggering $3.3 billion in leveraged liquidations over 24 hours, with short positions accounting for $3 billion, per CoinGlass. Ethereum and Bitcoin bets made up the bulk at $1.73 billion and $1.15 billion, respectively.
Bitmine shares climbed about 9% in pre-market trading after a 10% gain in the prior session, while Strategy (MSTR) rose roughly 9% and Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) each gained about 6%.
Bitmine chairman and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee argued the breakout above 0.02994 against Bitcoin marks a fundamental shift, with Wall Street pricing in Ethereum's utility value rather than treating it as a speculative asset.
"Crypto is more relevant today given the rapidly increasing capabilities of AI and robotics," Lee said. "In our view, Ethereum (ETH) will be the most important L1."
Lee ties the blockchain's future to AI and robotics, arguing Ethereum smart contracts will become the underlying operating system for cloud-based "collective intelligence" used by humanoid robots. Fundstrat contrasts this with BlackRock's view of Bitcoin as passive "digital gold," casting Ethereum as "digital oil" — the settlement layer for the future AI economy.
The endorsement strengthens a convergence thesis between crypto and AI markets, though Bitcoin remains down about 17% for the year and roughly 43% below its record high of $126,000 set in October.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.