SharpLink Now Largest Corporate Holder of ETH, Surpassing Ethereum Foundation

A Nasdaq-listed gaming company now holds more Ethereum (ETH) than the network’s own foundation.

SharpLink Gaming (SBET) cemented its position as the world’s largest corporate ETH holder, amassing more than 280,000 ETH in one week, now worth nearly $900 million.

Bold Bet on Ethereum

According to an official company announcement, between July 7 and July 13, SharpLink went on a massive acquisition spree, buying 74,656 ETH for around $213 million at a weighted average price of $2,852 each. This pushed its total ETH holdings to 280,706, valued at approximately $881 million at current rates, leapfrogging the Ethereum Foundation (EF), which holds some 196,354 ETH worth $617.77 million per data from Arkham.

The Minneapolis-based firm has since continued its accumulation, with blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reporting another 6,377 ETH purchased today to bring its seven-day buying spree to 91,330 ETH obtained for about $275 million.

Almost all of the company’s cryptocurrency is now staked, yielding more than 415 ETH, translating to $1.3 million, since it launched the strategy in early June. The firm also introduced an “ETH Concentration” metric (Total ETH Held ÷ 1,000 Assumed Diluted Shares Outstanding), reporting a 23% increase from 2.00 to 2.46 ETH since mid-June, indicating a rapidly growing ETH exposure per share.

Between July 7 and July 11, SharpLink raised $413 million in fresh capital through its at-the-market (ATM) equity program. It has so far used $156 million from that pot with another $257 million earmarked for additional buys.

Market Impact

Founded as an iGaming and sports betting innovator, SharpLink’s monumental accumulation has unfolded alongside a significant surge in its share value. According to Google Finance, SBET rocketed 21.31% during regular trading hours yesterday to close at $28.97. However, the party didn’t stop there, with the stock’s price rising by another 11.32% in after-hours trading to reach $32.25.

Meanwhile, ETH was changing hands at $3,140 at the time of this writing, reflecting a respectable 5.8% gain in the last 24 hours. Over the past week, it has climbed 20.7%, vastly outpacing Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, which, despite recording a new all-time high price just days ago, only saw a modest 8.3% uptick in the past seven days. Still, both have done better than the broader crypto market, which saw a 7.5% gain over the same period.

Ethereum’s improvement is also evident over longer time frames, jumping 28.8% in two weeks and 22.0% over the past month. It has also shaken off a year-to-date deficit to sit just 9.3% below its level 12 months ago.