Advertisement. Remove ads.
Shares of SharpLink Gaming (SBET) soared more than 430% on Tuesday after the niche sportsbook marketing firm unveiled plans to adopt Ether as a strategic treasury reserve, with involvement from the blockchain's co-founder, Joseph Lubin.
SharpLink is raising $425 million in a private placement offering. The proceeds will be used to buy Ether, which will then serve as the company's primary treasury reserve asset.
SharpLink said Consensys, a software firm co-founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, is the lead investor in the private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering. Pantera Capital, ParaFi Capital, and SharpLink's CEO and CFO, among others, are also participating.
Following similar moves by Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy, and GameStop (GME), it is increasingly evident that more corporate leaders are embracing the high-risk strategy of aligning their businesses with cryptocurrencies.
The January appointment of Donald Trump—widely viewed as supportive of the crypto sector—has further boosted market sentiment, with strong momentum in major tokens since then.
Shaplink's plan is likely the largest corporate bets on Ether, even as other companies mostly piled in on Bitcoin.
"This is a significant milestone in SharpLink's journey and marks an expansion beyond our core business," CEO Rob Phythian said in a statement.
Consensys will work with SharpLink to explore and develop its Ethereum treasury strategy and provide strategic advisory services to the company in its core business.
As part of the agreement, Lubin will assume the role of chairman of the board at SharpLink.
SharpLink shares ended at $35.83 on Tuesday, up from $6.72 in the previous trading session on Friday. The company's market capitalization climbed to $25 million.
SBET was the second top trending ticker on Stocktwits at the time of writing. The retail sentiment for the company jumped to "extremely bullish," and the number of users with the stock on their watchlists increased nearly 14% to over 11,000.
Ether (ETH.X) price climbed 2.2% in the past 24 hours.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.