SharpLink has launched an Ethereum-based treasury and appointed ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin as board chair, signaling a deeper push into blockchain strategy.
Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum, was named board chairman by SharpLink Gaming, which also announced a $425 million private equity transaction to build an Ether treasury.
SharpLink Gaming, a betting platform, said on May 27 that it had appointed Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as chairman of its board of directors and initiated an Ethereum-based corporate treasury strategy.
The release states that SharpLink Gaming, a publicly traded business on the Nasdaq, has signed a securities purchase agreement for a $425 million private investment in public equities. Among the investors was Consensys, an Ethereum infrastructure company.
Lubin, the founder and CEO of Consensys, stated, “Consensys is excited to work with SharpLink in their core business as a strategic advisor and to investigate and develop an Ethereum Treasury Strategy.”
As of this writing, SharpLink Gaming’s stock is trading at around $33.50, up about 400%. After closing below $7 the day before, trading began today above $30.
Large investors participated in the transaction.
Venture capital firms ParaFi Capital, Electric Capital, Pantera Capital, Arrington Capital, Galaxy Digital, Ondo, White Star Capital, GSR, Hivemind Capital, Hypersphere, and Primitive Ventures are among the investors in addition to Consensys. Rob Phythian, CEO of SharpLink, and Robert DeLucia, CEO of the company, also took part.
If the usual closing conditions are met, the deal is anticipated to close “on or about May 29.” In addition to other everyday business needs, SharpLink Gaming plans to utilize the recently raised money to boost their Ether ETH$2,667 treasury:
“ETH will serve as the company’s primary treasury reserve asset.”
Corporate crypto treasuries’ ascent
While corporate crypto treasuries are expanding, they primarily focus on Bitcoin.
110,165 BTC. Meitu, the creator of well-known Photoshop-like applications, was an exception, but at the end of last year, the company sold off its 31,000 Ether and 940 Bitcoin.
Other noteworthy instances include the February 2022 addition of Ether and Bitcoin to the treasury by the Canadian branch of Big Four auditor KPMG. Additionally, Boyaa Interactive International, a gaming company based in Hong Kong, owned Ethereum, but it switched to Bitcoin by the end of 2024.
Reddit, a massive social media platform, also purchased Ethereum and Bitcoin, but it was said to have sold off most of its assets by the end of 2024. Earlier this month, the publicly traded corporation BTCS also revealed a funding deal worth $57.8 million to buy Ether.
