Latest news with #SharpLink
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
SharpLink Shares Plunge 30% After 2000% Surge
SharpLink shares were lower by 30% in early U.S. trading Monday following last week's historic 2000% surge. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie breaks it down on 'Chart of the Day,' presented by Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum Just Got Its Michael Saylor -- And Wall Street Is Paying Attention
Shares of SharpLink (NASDAQ:SBET) have surged nearly 1,000% after announcing plans to become an Ether treasury company, echoing the playbook that turned Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) into a crypto market darling. The firm raised $425 million in a private placement to accumulate Ether, with Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin stepping in as chairman. The deal was led by Consensys, Lubin's software infrastructure company, and has investors asking if this could be the beginning of a broader Ether-driven capital markets trend. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with SBET. Lubin's conviction appears to have been shaped by a conversation with Bitcoin (BTC-USD) bull Michael Saylor six months ago. While Saylor turned Bitcoin into digital gold for balance sheets, Lubin sees untapped potential in Etherespecially as staking introduces a yield component. We'll take in more capital to buy Ether, Lubin noted, citing the possibility of share or bond issuance, but emphasized a cautious approach. Unlike earlier cycles fueled by hype, Lubin insists the focus is long-term ecosystem value, not speculation. With Bitcoin up roughly 11% year-to-date and Ether still down around 26%, some investors are beginning to reconsider the relative value of Ethereum's platform. Lubin believes Ether could play a central role in a more decentralized global economyand he's not alone. Other companies are reportedly exploring similar strategies. If this momentum builds, Ether might not just power decentralized apps but start showing up on more corporate balance sheets, much like Bitcoin did in 2020. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum Co-Founder Credits Michael Saylor for Crypto Treasury Firm Nudge
(Bloomberg) -- Long-time crypto advocate and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin says he was swayed into launching a firm to invest in the network's native currency about six-months ago by the best-known advocate of stockpiling digital tokens. Billionaire Steve Cohen Wants NY to Expand Taxpayer-Backed Ferry Where the Wild Children's Museums Are Now With Colorful Blocks, Tirana's Pyramid Represents a Changing Albania The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move NYC Congestion Toll Brings In $216 Million in First Four Months 'I was at a dinner with Michael Saylor, I did a little bit of research, I started talking to my colleagues about how cool it could be,' Lubin, the founder and chief executive officer of Ethereum software infrastructure provider Consensys, said in an interview. 'Nobody in our company had done a deep dive on it. We saw, hey we don't see anything overly dangerous in the strategy.' The eye-popping returns the software firm formally known as MicroStrategy has registered since Saylor decided in 2020 to turn the company into a leveraged Bitcoin proxy have captivated both Wall Street and individual investors. The outsized premium shares of the now-named Strategy command over the value of its Bitcoin holdings has spurred a surge in so-called crypto treasury companies seeking to emulate Saylor's success. Last week, the sports betting and gaming technology firm SharpLink Gaming Inc. said it would become a Ether treasury company, with Lubin serving as chairman of the board. SharpLink has closed a $425 million private placement to purchase Ether for its treasury. The fund raise was led by New York-based Consensys. Share of SharpLink surged about 400% following the May 27 the announcement, and ended last week up around 1,000%. The stock had tumbled more than 50% annually in the last three years. Lubin expects to raise additional capital to fund purchases of Ether, which is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value after Bitcoin. 'There will be ways for us to take in more capital for us to buy more Ether,' Lubin said, citing Saylor's strategy of issuing shares and convertible bonds. 'We'll do that in a prudent way, we'll not take excessive risk.' The key is not to become over-leveraged, Lubin said. 'We anticipate that our actions and similar actions will drive a huge amount of demand for Ether,' said Lubin, who said other firms are looking at Ether treasury strategies as well. While Saylor has been promoting Bitcoin as digital gold, the marketing message behind Ethereum — crypto's commercial highway, with thousands of gaming and lending apps — has been more garbled. Some investors shifted to only investing in Bitcoin, which has gained about 11% so far this year. Ether is down about 26%, even after a rally following its latest software upgrade. Lubin believes Ether deserves better. 'Essentially there's a paradigm shift on, to a more decentralized global economy,' Lubin said. 'It shouldn't be hard to believe that Ether will be a big part of that paradigm shift.' Lubin downplayed concern that the crypto treasury strategy is just the latest ploy to make a quick buck in crypto, similar to the pump-and-dump schemes that have plagued the sector since its early days more than a decade ago. 'I've never been looking to exit anything in the Ethereum ecosystem, we are builders, not exploiters,' Lubin said. 'We expect there will be years, possibly decades of growth in our ecosystem. We expect Ether growing enormously valuable.' Treasury companies holding Ether will be able to stake it — basically, use the coins to secure the Ethereum network and earn yield. 'We anticipate that there will be a number of vehicles like this that are well intentioned,' Lubin said. YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Will Small Business Owners Knock Down Trump's Mighty Tariffs? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SharpLink Announcement Breathes New Life Into Ether ETFs
The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) saw $32 million of inflows on Tuesday as Ether prices rallied to three-month highs. The surge came after Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming Inc. (SBET) announced plans to raise $425 million to purchase Ether, with Consensys Software Inc. and other crypto-focused investors participating in the deal. Ether jumped 4% on the news, while shares of SharpLink soared 433%, closing at $35.83. That's more than five times the $6.15 per share price of the capital raise. SharpLink's rally evoked comparisons to MicroStrategy Inc., now rebranded as Strategy Inc. (MSTR), which famously transformed itself into a de facto Bitcoin holding company in 2020. Like Strategy, SharpLink's core business has nothing to do with crypto. It operates as a marketing partner for sportsbook and online casino gaming platforms. In 2024, the company was unprofitable and had less than $4 million in revenue. Prior to Tuesday, its market cap was only $15 million. But crypto bulls are betting that SharpLink could play a similar role for Ether that Strategy did for Bitcoin. In 2020, Strategy's first Bitcoin purchases came when it had a market cap under $1.5 billion. Today, it's worth more than $100 billion—more than the value of the Bitcoin it holds—thanks to investors piling in and the company leveraging that enthusiasm to raise even more capital for Bitcoin buys. It's a bold blueprint that other firms have tried to mimic, though none have yet had the same success. Still, the mere possibility of a 'Strategy for Ether' narrative has some investors intrigued. If SharpLink can spark a similar flywheel—raising money to buy Ether, fueling a stock surge, enabling more fundraising and ultimately more Ether purchases—it could become a meaningful catalyst for the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has lagged significantly behind Bitcoin this cycle. As of Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading near $110,000, roughly 62% above its 2021 peak. Ether, meanwhile, hovered around $2,700, still 44% below its all-time high. Some of the underperformance reflects concerns about Ether's role in the smart contract space, with newer blockchains like Solana nipping at its heels. ETF flows tell the story, too. Since the start of 2025, spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted nearly $10 billion, while Ether ETFs have seen just $100 million in inflows. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) now has $72.4 billion in assets, compared to just $3.6 billion for ETHA. Whether SharpLink can change that remains to be seen. But in a crypto market starved for Ether-specific catalysts, Tuesday's fireworks were more than | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SharpLink Announcement Breathes New Life Into Ether ETFs
The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) saw $32 million of inflows on Tuesday as Ether prices rallied to three-month highs. The surge came after Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming Inc. (SBET) announced plans to raise $425 million to purchase Ether, with Consensys Software Inc. and other crypto-focused investors participating in the deal. Ether jumped 4% on the news, while shares of SharpLink soared 433%, closing at $35.83. That's more than five times the $6.15 per share price of the capital raise. SharpLink's rally evoked comparisons to MicroStrategy Inc., now rebranded as Strategy Inc. (MSTR), which famously transformed itself into a de facto Bitcoin holding company in 2020. Like Strategy, SharpLink's core business has nothing to do with crypto. It operates as a marketing partner for sportsbook and online casino gaming platforms. In 2024, the company was unprofitable and had less than $4 million in revenue. Prior to Tuesday, its market cap was only $15 million. But crypto bulls are betting that SharpLink could play a similar role for Ether that Strategy did for Bitcoin. In 2020, Strategy's first Bitcoin purchases came when it had a market cap under $1.5 billion. Today, it's worth more than $100 billion—more than the value of the Bitcoin it holds—thanks to investors piling in and the company leveraging that enthusiasm to raise even more capital for Bitcoin buys. It's a bold blueprint that other firms have tried to mimic, though none have yet had the same success. Still, the mere possibility of a 'Strategy for Ether' narrative has some investors intrigued. If SharpLink can spark a similar flywheel—raising money to buy Ether, fueling a stock surge, enabling more fundraising and ultimately more Ether purchases—it could become a meaningful catalyst for the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has lagged significantly behind Bitcoin this cycle. As of Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading near $110,000, roughly 62% above its 2021 peak. Ether, meanwhile, hovered around $2,700, still 44% below its all-time high. Some of the underperformance reflects concerns about Ether's role in the smart contract space, with newer blockchains like Solana nipping at its heels. ETF flows tell the story, too. Since the start of 2025, spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted nearly $10 billion, while Ether ETFs have seen just $100 million in inflows. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) now has $72.4 billion in assets, compared to just $3.6 billion for ETHA. Whether SharpLink can change that remains to be seen. But in a crypto market starved for Ether-specific catalysts, Tuesday's fireworks were more than | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
