SharpLink Gaming Stakes $170M ETH on Linea, Eyes 2026 Productivity

Since implementing its treasury strategy in May 2023, SharpLink Gaming has amassed a staggering position of over 865,000 Ethereum, valued at approximately $2.75 billion as of this week. This accumulation phase, which CEO Joseph Chalom identifies with the year 2025, has now given way to an activation phase. The first major move was deploying $170 million worth of that ETH last week onto Consensys’s layer-2 scaling network, Linea, specifically to capture elevated staking rewards and incentives. This is not an isolated action; Chalom clarified that nearly all of the firm’s massive ETH holdings are already staked and earning yield across various protocols. The Linea deployment represents the beginning of a more aggressive, public-facing strategy to maximize returns on what the company views as its core strategic asset.

The scale of SharpLink’s holdings provides a unique advantage. Chalom, who joined the firm in July after leading BlackRock’s digital asset strategy, refers to the treasury as “permanent capital.” This long-term, patient capital allows the firm to engage in multi-year staking commitments and pursue opportunities that are inaccessible to short-term traders or more volatile investment funds. “We had an ability to do something no one had done before,” Chalom stated during an appearance on Rug Radio’s FOMO Hour. This foundational philosophy underpins the firm’s entire approach: using its substantial, stable balance sheet to operate where others cannot.

For SharpLink, “productivity” is a multi-faceted concept that extends beyond simple staking. In his remarks, CEO Joseph Chalom outlined a flexible, opportunistic strategy for the firm’s ETH. A portion will remain in native Ethereum staking, a foundational yield-generating activity. Another segment will be allocated to the burgeoning fields of restaking and liquid restaking tokens (LRTs), which allow the same staked ETH to secure additional protocols and generate compounded returns. Critically, Chalom indicated the firm will reserve part of its portfolio to be “opportunistic,” potentially acting as a lender or liquidity provider to other protocols in need of financing.

“I think you’re going to see us push the efficient frontier of what you can do if you have ‘permanent capital,'” Chalom predicted. This vision positions SharpLink not just as a passive holder, but as an active, strategic capital allocator within the crypto ecosystem. The yields generated from this diversified staking and lending approach are designed to create a financial buffer, allowing the firm to weather the cryptocurrency market’s notorious volatility without being forced into distressed sales. “We’re built so that when ETH goes up, our stock price benefits. When ETH goes down, we have no reason to sell,” Chalom explained, emphasizing the strategy’s cycle-agnostic design.

The announcement of this productivity push coincided with positive momentum for both Ethereum and SharpLink’s stock. On Tuesday, shares of the company, traded under the ticker SBET, rose nearly 3% to $10.53. This uptick occurred as Ethereum itself rebounded, trading above $3,200—a 3% increase in 24 hours. The market’s immediate, positive reaction suggests investor approval of the firm’s shift from accumulation to active treasury management.

However, the broader picture for SBET shares reveals significant challenges. Despite the recent gain, the stock remains down approximately 51% over the past six months, highlighting the disconnect between the firm’s substantial underlying asset value and its market valuation. SharpLink’s strategy is explicitly crafted to address this. By generating substantial yield from its ETH treasury, the firm aims to build intrinsic value and demonstrate utility regardless of ETH’s spot price cycles. Downturns, in Chalom’s view, are not crises but “buying opportunities,” reinforcing the long-term, unshakeable nature of the “permanent capital” thesis. As 2026 approaches, the financial performance of SharpLink Gaming will serve as a critical test case for whether massive, productively deployed crypto treasuries can reliably create shareholder value in both bull and bear markets.