Tom Lee Rides Crypto Treasury Boom as ETF Hauls In $55M

The first leveraged single-stock ETF tied to Tom Lee’s Ethereum holding company has wasted no time attracting investors. Since launching on Sept. 26, the T-REX 2X Long BMNR Daily Target ETF (BMNU) has already taken in $55 million. 

The fund, launched by Rex Shares and not directly associated with Lee, is part of the booming leveraged single-stock ETF space. It offers amplified exposure to BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), a bitcoin miner that has reinvented itself around Ethereum.

That reinvention began in June, when Lee, the Fundstrat strategist behind the $3 billion Granny Shots ETF (GRNY), stepped in as chairman. On the same day, BMNR raised $250 million in a share sale to finance a massive purchase of ether, the cryptocurrency that powers the Ethereum blockchain. 

In just a few months, the company built the largest Ethereum treasury in the world, with 2.7 million ETH worth $11.4 billion.

The Rise of DATs

In addition to its ether holdings, BitMine also holds over $430 million in cash, 192 bitcoins worth $23 million and a $113 million stake in Eightco Holdings (ORBS)—another crypto Treasury company associated with none other than Dan Ives, who like Lee, is a big media personality with a large retail investor following. 

ORBS’ treasury strategy focuses on Worldcoin, the controversial crypto project that distributes tokens in exchange for iris scans with the aim of building a global identity system.

BMNR and ORBS show how quickly the “digital asset treasury” (DAT) model is spreading beyond bitcoin. Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) pioneered the playbook in 2020, turning itself into a corporate vault for BTC and amassing 640,000 coins now valued at $76 billion.

Value Transfer

The case for investing in DATs is the idea that companies can boost per-share crypto holdings when their stock trades at a premium to the value of the assets they hold. 

When a company’s shares trade above the value of its crypto, it can issue stock, buy more coins, and increase per-share exposure for existing investors.

While it’s a logical move for a company whose shares trade at a premium, it’s ultimately just a value transfer, not the kind of financial alchemy it’s sometimes dressed up as.

At one point last year, Strategy’s market cap ballooned to nearly three times the value of its bitcoin amid a flurry of buying by retail investors seduced by founder Michael Saylor’s aggressive bitcoin evangelism.

Today, after numerous share sales, the premium has slid back toward 25%. BMNR currently has a similar premium, giving it modest room keep running the same playbook.

Embracing the Model

Unlike crypto ETFs such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) or iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which stay close to NAV through the creation/redemption process, these digital asset treasury companies behave more like closed-end funds. Premiums can balloon when enthusiasm is high, then collapse just as quickly.

Today, with cryptocurrency prices near record highs, enthusiasm is strong. But the steady pace of share sales, and the arrival of more and more copycats, is starting to put pressure on the model.

Shares of MicroStrategy haven’t hit a new high since Nov. 2024 and are down 29% from those levels. 



With MicroStrategy sucking up most of the oxygen in the bitcoin treasury space, Lee and Ives have smartly pivoted toward building treasuries on other assets—Ethereum in BMNR’s case, and Worldcoin through ORBS.

Leveraging the Spotlight

Lee has parlayed his media presence and following into multiple ventures, from BMNR to GRNY to several soon-to-be-launched ETFs. 

Dan Ives, another CNBC regular, has done the same with the $762 million Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES) and his involvement in ORBS. Both are capitalizing on their followings to draw money into ETFs and their digital asset treasury companies.

Whether the DAT model proves durable is still an open question. But for now, it’s given Lee and Ives another way to turn attention in assets.

Other DAT-Themed ETFs

For investors who want exposure to the DAT trend without the risks of a 2x single-stock ETF like BMNU, there are broader, more conventional options. The Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF (OWNB) provides equity exposure to companies with at least 1,000 bitcoin on their balance sheets, while the Grayscale Bitcoin Adopters ETF (BCOR) casts a wider net, targeting firms that hold at least 100 bitcoin.