BitMine acquires more ethereum despite being underwater amid token’s price decline

Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder, with 818,334 bitcoin, reported its first-quarter earnings, missing analysts’ earnings-per-share estimates but beating on revenue. Shares dipped in after-market trading. 

For the first three months of 2026, Strategy reported:

• Revenue from its legacy software business of $124.3 million, above analysts’ consensus estimate of $121 million.

But the main focus is on its bitcoin operations. Strategy, with a $65 billion market cap, purchased its bitcoin at an average price of $75,537. The company reported a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on its digital assets in its first quarter, according to an April 8-K filing, following bitcoin’s descent over the past three months.

This compares to an unrealized loss on digital assets of $5.91 billion for the first quarter of 2025.

It also reported a bitcoin yield of 9.4% in 2026 year to date, and a bitcoin gain of $4.97 billion in 2026 YTD.

Ahead of earnings, the company skipped buying bitcoin this week, the second weekly break this year.  

Proceeds from STRC, Strategy’s perpetual preferred equity instrument, launched in July 2025, have enabled the firm to maintain its acquisition pace despite bitcoin’s tumble this quarter. This includes a massive purchase of 34,164 bitcoin for $2.54 billion in April, its largest acquisition since November 2024. STRC raised $5.58 billion, a 189% growth in 2026 YTD.

In April, TD Cowen analysts reiterated their “buy” rating on Strategy, as their “top digital asset pick,” with a $385 price target, saying the continued innovation at the instrument level “remains a key differentiator supporting long‑term shareholder value creation.”

Toncoin, the native token for The Open Network, has jumped more than 26% in the last 24 hours after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said the popular messaging app will play a larger role in the ecosystem.

Telegram will become the largest validator for The Open Network and replace the TON Foundation “as the driving force behind TON,” Durov wrote in a Monday message shared on Telegram and X.

Digital assets within the TON ecosystem have also rallied on the news, with canine-based coin DOGS rising 81% and gaming token NOTCOIN increasing 14%. Despite the ongoing rally, TON hitting $1.80 is still a far cry from its all-time high of $8.25 set in 2024, data from CoinGecko shows.

The Open Network is a layer 1 blockchain that last year became the exclusive network for Telegram’s mini apps ecosystem, which includes an embedded crypto wallet.

Jakob Palmstierna, president of crypto trading firm GSR, said the announcement is more akin to a reunion than a pivot. “TON was originally created to be Telegram’s financial infrastructure, and the foundation spinout was largely a regulatory workaround,” Palmstierna told Sherwood.

He added, “Telegram stepping in now is simply completing the road map, turning one of the world’s largest messaging platforms into a true super app with a native monetary layer.”

Bitwise research analyst Ish Asad told Sherwood, “Telegram has already been the primary driver and source of usage for the TON chain, and this new development should further strengthen their alignment.”