Today in crypto: Bitmine has begun staking Ether after depositing nearly $219 million worth of ETH into Ethereum’s PoS system, Sharplink co-CEO predicts Ethereum’s TVL will surge “10X” in 2026. Meanwhile, Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov denied purchasing AAVE tokens to influence a controversial community vote.
Bitmine begins staking ETH, deposits $219M into Ethereum PoS contract
Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has begun staking its Ether holdings depositing nearly $219 million worth of ETH into Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) system.
On Sunday, multiple wallets linked to Bitmine sent large Ether (ETH) transfers to a contract labeled “BatchDeposit,” onchain data from Arkham shows. The transfers totaled 74,880 ETH, a pattern typically associated with institutional staking setups that aggregate funds before validator creation.
“The largest Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) has finally started attempting to stake its held ETH to earn interest income,” EmberCN said in a post on X.
“This is their first time staking, and they now hold 4.066 million ETH, with an approximate APY of 3.12%. If all of it were staked, they could earn about 126,800 ETH in interest over a year, which at the current price of $2,927 would be worth $371 million,” the onchain analyst said.
Ethereum’s TVL could skyrocket ’10X’ in 2026: Sharplink CEO
Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) may surge ten-fold in 2026 as adoption expands across multiple use cases and institutional investors, according to Sharplink’s co-CEO Joseph Chalom.
Sharplink Gaming is the second-largest public Ethereum treasury company, holding 797,704 ETH, worth roughly $2.33 billion at the time of publication, according to Ethereum Treasuries data.
“The stablecoin market will hit $500B by the end of next year,” Chalom predicted in an X post on Friday, as the total stablecoin market capitalization currently sits at around $308.46 billion. A move to $500 billion would represent an increase of about 62%.
With over half of the total stablecoin activity (54%) taking place on Ethereum, such a rise could potentially contribute to an increase in the network’s TVL.
Kulechov denies buying AAVE tokens to influence DAO vote
Aave Labs founder Stani Kulechov has denied reports claiming he acquired $15 million worth of AAVE (AAVE) tokens to influence a recent governance vote, which failed to pass.
The proposal in question concerns changes to how governance is exercised within the Aave protocol and whether certain assets should fall more directly under the control of the Aave decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which oversees the protocol.
“These tokens were not used to vote on the recent proposal, and that was never my intention,” Kulechov wrote on social media. “This is my life’s work, and I am putting my own capital behind my conviction.”
As Cointelegraph reported, backlash intensified after the governance vote was triggered despite ongoing debate over the proposal. Several stakeholders disputed the decision, arguing that the vote was escalated prematurely and without sufficient consensus.
The episode has renewed scrutiny of Aave’s governance structure, with community members raising concerns over whether existing mechanisms adequately protect minority token holders and limit the influence of large stakeholders.
