SharpLink Gaming’s plans to buy $1 billion worth of ethereum send shares tumbling

Just days after announcing a $425 million funding for an ethereum treasury strategy, sportsbook marketing firm SharpLink Gaming revealed it intends to offer “up to $1 billion” in shares of its common stock to buy ethereum.

“We intend to use substantially all of the proceeds from this offering to acquire Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain commonly referred to as ‘ETH,’” the May 30 SEC filing reads.

SharpLink shares were down more than 36% as of 10:30 a.m. ET.

The company also announced last week that Joseph Lubin, the founder and CEO of Consensys and cofounder of ethereum, “will become Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company effective upon the closing of the private placement.” 

Ethereum has been on an upward trajectory lately and is up 36% from a month ago, though it’s still far away from its all-time high of $4,878 on November 10, 2021.

Experts note several drivers that could further boost the asset, including that “increased acceptance and usage of DeFi will further increase demand for ETH as a credibly neutral and permissionless collateral,” according to Tim Lowe, Strategic Advisor, Bitwise Onchain Solutions.

Lowe also said that 30% of the ethereum supply is currently locked in staking, further increasing scarcity and demand for the coin.

“This is before potential approval of staked ETH ETFs by the SEC, which could further add momentum to this asset,” Lowe said.

Update (June 3, 2025): Corrected attribution of quote to Tim Lowe instead of John McLeod.