SharpLink Gaming (SBET), a longstanding player in the sports marketing space based in Minneapolis, witnessed a remarkable 412% surge in its stock price on Tuesday following its announcement to adopt a pioneering Ethereum treasury reserve strategy. The initiative is being led by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, who will also join SharpLink’s board as chairman.
The company’s shares skyrocketed from $7 last Friday to $34.45, increasing its market capitalization to roughly $23 million. SharpLink is in the midst of a $425 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) raise, with the capital earmarked to acquire ether (ETH), which will become the company’s primary treasury reserve asset.
At the forefront of this fundraising round is Consensys, the blockchain software firm co-founded by Lubin. Additional participation comes from heavyweight crypto investors including Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Ondo Capital.
The offering, scheduled to close on May 29, signals SharpLink’s strategic pivot towards embracing cryptocurrency assets, aligning with a growing trend among microcap companies inspired by the dramatic share price appreciation of MicroStrategy (MSTR), which leveraged bitcoin as a treasury asset to remarkable effect.
In parallel, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) also announced plans for a $2.5 billion capital raise aimed at launching a bitcoin treasury strategy, underscoring the expanding adoption of crypto reserves among public companies.
