Leading Ethereum treasury firm BitMine appoints new CEO, expands board

Ethereum treasury firm BitMine (BMNR) has appointed a new chief executive and three independent directors, according to an announcement on Friday.

Chi Tsang, who previously led venture fund m1720 and served a 10-year stint at HSBC, will replace Jonathan Bates as CEO and join the board of directors. The firm also named Robert Sechan, Olivia Howe, and Jason Edgeworth as new members of the board.

Bates served as CEO since May 2022, and as board chair before the firm’s strategic shift to focus on ETH accumulation, driven by the appointment of Ethereum bull Tom Lee as chairman of the board in July .

"Our new CEO and Board members bring a unique blend of experience, insight, and leadership across technology, DeFi and financial services, enabling BitMine to further position itself as the bridge between traditional capital markets and the supercycle Ethereum ecosystem," Lee said.

The leadership shakeup comes amid a wave of uncertainty around digital asset treasuries , which, by and large, have begun to shift away from pure token stockpiling to other forms of financial engineering.

For instance, BitMine, the largest corporate ETH holder, and Foward Industries (FORD), the largest Solana treasury, have both approved billion-dollar stock repurchase plans.

Earlier this week, BitMine disclosed it holds 3,505,723 ETH , or nearly 3% of the total ether supply, worth over $12 billion. The firm aims to capture 5% of Ethereum’s free-floating tokens. It also maintains $398 million in cash and 192 bitcoins.

Board appointee Sechan is the founder of NewEdge Capital Group and CEO of NewEdge Wealth, and a longtime acquaintance of Lee, according to a statement on Friday praising the Bitmine chairman’s ability to forecast trends like the wireless revolution in the 90s and the rapid advancement of AI in the past decade.

Howe serves as chief legal officer of energy-focused information technology company RigUp, while Edgeworth is the assistant manager for JPD Family Holdings, a multi-family office and private wealth management firm.

BitMine counts ARK's Cathie Wood, DCG, Founders Fund, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Pantera, and billionaire investor Bill Miller III as backers. Ark added it to its BitMine position during a recent market rout that saw BMNR dip nearly 10% . The stock is trading around $35 on Friday, according to The Block's price page .