SharpLink Stock Rises, Then Falls Following $400M Deal to Boost Ethereum Treasury

In brief

Sharplink Gaming is raising an additional $400 million to fuel Ethereum purchases.
The company has raised nearly $900 million for its corporate treasury over the past week.
Ethereum treasury firms are on the rise and could soon hold 10% of all ETH in circulation, according to a Standard Chartered analyst.

SharpLink Gaming is raising a further $400 million to expand its Ethereum treasury, with the firm expecting its total ETH holdings to top $3 billion soon thereafter, the publicly traded firm said Monday in a statement.

The online gambling marketer aims to sell its shares for $21.76 each to five global institutional investors, according to the company’s press release.

The sale is expected to close on Tuesday, August 12, if all closing conditions are met.

“The speed and scale of these investments reflect not only investor trust in SharpLink, but also the growing recognition of Ethereum’s transformative potential,” SharpLink co-CEO Joseph Chalom said Monday in a statement, adding that the firm has raised nearly $900 million in the past week.

Shares of SharpLink Gaming (SBET) fluctuated significantly throughout the day, starting at around $24 before jumping to $28, then finally ending the trading day down more than 6.6% to $22.34.

Even so, the stock remains up more than 17% over the last week.

The company’s bid to raise funds comes as the price of the world’s second-largest crypto surges amid a corporate Ethereum treasury boom.

Publicly traded firms, including BitMine, EtherMachine, and Bit Digital, collectively hold several billion dollars worth of Ethereum.

And their holdings could soon account for 10% of all Ethereum in circulation, according to one Standard Chartered analyst.

The crypto is currently trading at $4,220, up 13.5% in the past week and more than 43% over the last month. Ethereum is now just 13% below its record price of $4,8781, GoinGecko data shows.

The recent resurgence follows a two-year period in which the token languished, despite a broader crypto market upswing.

More than 75% of users on crypto-native prediction market Myriad believe that Ethereum will surpass its record price before the end of the year.

SharpLink’s latest deal forms part of the company’s efforts to meet its goal of accumulating 1% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply, or over 1.2 million ETH as of this writing.

The Ethereum treasury firm held 598,800 ETH as of August 10, according to its latest statement. Those tokens are worth more than $2.5 billion as of the time of writing, according to data provider CoinGecko.