One of the largest publicly traded Ethereum (ETH) treasury companies, SharpLink Gaming, today announced that it has raised $76.5 million in a direct stock offering at a price above the market rate. A portion of the profits will likely be used to purchase more ETH.
SharpLink raises $76.5 million to buy more Ethereum
According to an announcement made earlier today, SharpLink Gaming has entered into a securities purchase agreement with an unknown institutional investor for the purchase and sale of 4.5 million shares of common stock.
Notably, the Minneapolis-based company said it sold stock for $17 per share, a 12% premium over its market rate of $15.5 as of market close hours on Oct. 15. This is also a premium to the net asset value (NAV) of the company’s current holdings of 840,124 ETH.
The offering is expected to close on October 17, subject to customary closing conditions. Commenting on the development, Joseph Chalom, Co-CEO of SharpLink said:
This is a new stock sale transaction that is both shareholder accretive and strategically structured, reflecting the strong institutional confidence in SharpLink and our long-term vision. By increasing shares at a significant premium to market price and NAV, we are able to continue accumulating ETH and increasing the number of ETH per share for our investors.
He added that Ethereum adoption continues to grow among retail and institutional investors, across different verticals such as stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and tokenized assets.
Following today’s announcement, SharpLink shares are down slightly, trading at $15.07 at the time of writing. However, shares are up 445% over the past six months, largely due to the rising price of ETH.
As mentioned earlier, SharpLink is currently ranked second among publicly traded companies in terms of the amount of ETH held in their treasuries. BitMine Technologies continue leading the pack, with over three million ETH on its balance sheet, according to Coingecko data.
Is crypto cash still relevant?
The practice of companies developing crypto treasury strategies has become increasingly popular in recent years. It accelerated after the victory of pro-crypto Donald Trump in the US presidential election in November 2024.
This trend is not limited to major digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum, but companies are also exploring crypto cash strategies focused on other altcoins such as Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX)And Dogecoin (DOGE).
That said, there are some warning signs that have investors doubting the benefits of a crypto-focused treasury strategy on a company’s finances. For example, recently, the valuation of Metaplanet fell below the value of the total BTC it holds on its balance sheet.
Likewise, shares of Michael Saylor’s Strategy – the world’s largest publicly traded company by amount of BTC held – also showed poor performance over the last few months. At press time, ETH is trading at $3,921, down 1.7% over the past 24 hours.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, graphics from Yahoo! Finance, Coingecko and TradingView.com
Editorial process as Bitcoinist focuses on providing thoroughly researched, accurate and unbiased content. We follow strict sourcing standards and every page undergoes careful review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance and value of our content to our readers.
