In brief
- SharpLink bought $48.85 million in Ethereum on Sunday.
- The move follows a $63.7 million Ethereum purchase on Friday from the Ethereum Foundation.
- Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin became chairman of SharpLink earlier this year.
Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming (SBET) acquired another 16,374 ETH on Sunday, worth around $48.85 million, according to blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence.
The Ethereum was transferred to SharpLink’s wallet from a wallet tied to Galaxy Digital’s over-the-counter trading desk. SharpLink has not publicly confirmed the transaction. On Friday, the company also bought 21,487 ETH for $63.7 million.
"A lot of corporates are looking to copy the Strategy playbook because, as of now, it looks so successful," Justin d’Anethan, head of sales at token vesting and advisory firm Liquifi, told Decrypt.
"I can't help but think it's not really aligned with the business per se, otherwise they might have done it sooner, but rather about optics and tapping into a different investor base," he added.
SharpLink shares have rallied on the back of these buys, closing Friday at $21.65, up 17.5% on the day and 71% over the past week, per Yahoo Finance.
Sunday trading on Blue ATS showed shares moving higher again, up 7.16% at $23.20. Ethereum is also up 3% over the past 24 hours, trading at $3,052.
Founded in Minneapolis as an affiliate marketing firm for gambling and sports betting sites, SharpLink is one of a series of companies previously not linked to crypto that have reimagined themselves as reserves.
It pivoted in late May to an aggressive Ethereum treasury strategy following a $425 million private placement led by Consensys. That deal brought Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin on board as chairman of SharpLink.
Under Lubin’s direction, SharpLink now positions itself as both a treasury investor in Ethereum and a steward of its ecosystem.
“This isn’t a trade—it is a commitment to our long-term vision. SharpLink is acquiring, staking, and restaking Ethereum as responsible industry stewards, removing supply from circulation and reinforcing the health of the Ethereum ecosystem,” Lubin said in a statement Friday.
“Moreover, we see this as the start of something bigger—a model for how mission-driven organizations can work to advance our ecosystem’s shared goals of decentralization, economic empowerment, and protocol-native finance.”
The company’s Ethereum reserves are now second only to the Ethereum Foundation itself, according to Strategic Ethereum Reserve, which records that SharpLink holds 216,000ETH worth some $648 million.
"Ethereum is yield-bearing, inflationary or deflationary depending on the week, and deeply tied to a defi ecosystem that’s still hard to summarize in one sentence," d’Anethan said. "Most public market plays want exposure to something clear and with easy rails for allocations. Ethereum is presumably as easy but less obvious, but that then gives a chance to corporates like SharpLink to differentiate."
Other top holders include PulseChain Sac, Coinbase, Golem Foundation, and Bit Digital. However, ETH has not become a popular choice of crypto reserve compared to Bitcoin.
While Ethereum prices have recently reclaimed the $3,000 mark—their highest level in five months—the asset has lagged behind Bitcoin this year.
Meanwhile, large OTC sales like those by SharpLink have drawn scrutiny.
“Guess that’s one way to fix [Ethereum Foundation] dumping," said Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik on X last Friday.
Editor's note: Adds comments from Liquifi