SharpLink Gaming Stakes $170M ETH on Linea for DeFi Yields

The $170 million ETH stake represents the bulk of SharpLink Gaming’s previously announced intention to deploy up to $200 million on the Linea network. According to Chief Investment Officer Matt Sheffield, the transaction is designed to “generate additional yield, in excess of its current staking rewards, while pushing the industry to embrace institutional-grade DeFi.” He emphasized the pioneering nature of the move, noting it involved a public company deploying into liquid staking and bridging assets without leaving a qualified custodian—a combination he described as “multiple industry firsts.”

This deployment is central to SharpLink’s goal of making its substantial Ethereum treasury “the most productive exposure to ETH.” The firm, based in Minneapolis, holds a treasury of 864,840 ETH, valued at nearly $2.7 billion, all of which is staked via custodians. By moving a portion to Linea, SharpLink will earn restaking rewards from Eigen Cloud in addition to incentives from EtherFi and Linea itself, layering these returns on top of native ETH staking yields. While the firm did not disclose specific incentive figures, Sheffield indicated plans for “many more deals of this nature” that are accretive to stockholders by capturing excess DeFi yields.

The announcement coincided with a 1.4% gain for SharpLink’s stock, SBET, which closed at $10.28 on Thursday. However, this uptick does little to offset a broader decline; shares remain down nearly 37% over the last six months and are more than 33% below their level in October when the staking plan was first revealed. This stock performance exists alongside a challenging period for Ethereum’s price, with ETH trading around $3,115, down approximately 1% in 24 hours and 37% off its all-time high of $4,946.

SharpLink’s strategic move also occurs against a backdrop of volatility for the Linea network itself. Data from DefiLlama shows that Linea’s total value locked (TVL) peaked at $1.64 billion about two weeks after its native LINEA token launched in September but has since plummeted roughly 89% to approximately $185.74 million. This sharp decline in TVL highlights the competitive and often turbulent environment for layer-2 networks, even as established players like SharpLink make significant commitments.

SharpLink’s deployment is not merely a financial transaction but is reinforced by deep structural ties to the Linea ecosystem. The firm is a member of the Linea Consortium, a group that helps manage the distribution of the LINEA token. Furthermore, SharpLink Chairman Joseph Lubin provides a critical link; Lubin co-founded Ethereum and is the founder and CEO of Consensys, the software development firm that incubated the Linea layer-2 network.

These connections underscore a strategic alignment with Ethereum’s long-term success. In September, SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom told Decrypt of the importance of driving real-world activity to “Ethereum-aligned” products like Linea. CIO Matt Sheffield framed the recent stake as “just the beginning” of making the firm’s ETH treasury more productive. “SharpLink is creating a new on-chain paradigm for capital markets,” Sheffield stated. “Our belief is that Ethereum will be the bedrock of global finance, and this is a big step toward modeling DeFi for institutions at scale on a risk-adjusted basis.” The move signals a concerted effort to bridge traditional corporate treasury management with the emerging, yield-generating mechanisms of decentralized finance.