Corporate holders of Ethereum are experiencing significant paper losses following a market correction. The largest asset owner, BitMine, has lost $6.95 billion in unrealized value.

The company purchased coins at an average price of $3,883, while the current rate has dropped to $2,240.

Source: BitMineTracker.

Investor Ross Gerber commented on the unrealized loss of BitMine founder Tom Lee's Ethereum positions, calling it potentially "the worst trade in history."

Could be close to the worst trade ever… we shall see. https://t.co/FeOmKJLGHc

— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) February 1, 2026

The second-largest treasury firm, SharpLink Gaming, recorded a loss of $1.09 billion, with an average entry price of $3,609.

Source: SharpLink Dashboard.

The drop in prices has impacted the mNAV ratio. BitMine's ratio has fallen to 1, while SharpLink's is down to 0.92.

A ratio below one complicates capital raising through stock issuance, limiting companies' ability to purchase more cryptocurrency. Pantera Capital believes this trend will lead to a "brutal cleansing" of DAT companies in 2026.

This current downturn aligns with predictions made by BitMine chairman Tom Lee, who previously anticipated Ethereum dropping to $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026, followed by a recovery by year-end.

After aggressively calling $7,500, Tom Lee is now targeting $1,800.

This is why retail gets rekt.$ETH https://t.co/9HVD1s2emK pic.twitter.com/dJEHya8Yro

— Alejandro₿TC (@Alejandro_XBT) December 21, 2025

Hong Kong's Trend Research has begun to reduce positions under market pressure. On February 2, the firm sold 33,589 ETH for $79 million, realizing a loss.

Trend Research 已止损卖出 33,589 枚 ETH ($7912 万)，然后从 Binance 提回 7752 万 USDT 还款。
把他们的 ETH 借贷仓位清算价从 $1,880 降到了现在的 $1,830 附近。

◎现在还持仓：61.8 万枚 ETH ($14.3 亿)，成本均价 $3,180。
◎亏损：$5.62 亿 (已实现亏损 $2771 万+未实现亏损 $5.34 亿)… https://t.co/9o7j6azLGP pic.twitter.com/XcgvgMiR6W

— 余烬 (@EmberCN) February 2, 2026

The funds were used to repay a loan in USDT to Binance.

Trend Research founder Jack Yi admitted to the mistake of opening a long position too early. He stated the fund considered the asset undervalued at $3,000 when Bitcoin was around $100,000.

作为现在全网压力最大的人，首先必须承认：自从顶部清仓后，确实过早看多eth是错误的，因为btc在10万左右，eth一直在3000，我们认为被低估。目前上一轮利润回吐，仓位决定思路，在控制风险的情况下，继续等待行情向上，谢谢大家关心，投资和交易是最难的，身处行业中，总是时刻忍不住看多。

— JackYi (@Jackyi_ld) February 2, 2026

Currently, the company holds 618,000 ETH with an unrealized loss exceeding $534 million. Yi expressed intent to wait for a market recovery while strictly managing risks.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor announced the purchase of an additional 855 BTC for approximately $75.3 million at a price of around $87,974.

Strategy has acquired 855 BTC for ~$75.3 million at ~$87,974 per bitcoin. As of 2/1/2026, we hodl 713,502 $BTC acquired for ~$54.26 billion at ~$76,052 per bitcoin. $MSTR $STRC https://t.co/tYTGMwPPUF

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) February 2, 2026

As of February 1, 2026, the company holds 713,502 BTC with an average purchase price of $76,052.

Nomura Cuts Cryptocurrency Investments

Japanese financial holding company Nomura Holdings has revised its risk management strategy and reduced its exposure to digital assets, according to Bloomberg. This decision follows losses incurred by its Swiss subsidiary, Laser Digital Holdings, amid market volatility from October to December 2025.

Nomura's CFO Hiroyuki Moriuchi confirmed the implementation of stricter controls over positions to mitigate risks and smooth income fluctuations tied to the cryptocurrency market.

According to the agency, losses from digital asset operations negatively impacted Nomura's quarterly report. The holding's net profit was ¥91.6 billion ($591.6 million), falling short of analysts' forecasts (¥95.1 billion). However, the company's core business showed stable results.

Nomura's shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange reacted with a 6.7% decline, dropping to ¥1,318. To support its stock price, the company announced a share buyback of up to ¥600 billion ($38.7 billion)—about 3.2% of the total outstanding shares.

Despite a challenging quarter, Nomura's management reaffirmed its long-term interest in the digital asset industry, describing it as a promising growth area.

Recall that in November 2025, Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan pointed out the inefficiency of crypto treasuries.