SharpLink (SBET) Stock: Plans $200 Million Ethereum Deployment on Linea Network

TLDR

• SharpLink Gaming (SBET) plans to deploy $200 million of Ether onto Consensys’ Linea network over multiple years to generate onchain yield.
• The deployment represents 5.6% of SharpLink’s 859,853 ETH treasury, currently valued at $3.57 billion, making it the second-largest corporate Ethereum holder.
• The company will use ether.fi for staking and restaking, plus EigenCloud for decentralized verification services, with Anchorage Digital Bank as custodian.
• Yields will come from native staking returns, restaking rewards, and incentives from Linea and partner programs on the zkEVM layer-2 network.
• The move follows similar DeFi yield strategies by ETHZilla ($100M deployment), the Ethereum Foundation (45,000 ETH), and exchanges like Coinbase and Crypto.com.

SharpLink Gaming announced plans to deploy $200 million worth of Ether from its corporate treasury onto Consensys’ Linea network. The multi-year initiative represents 5.6% of the company’s total ETH holdings.

The Nasdaq-listed company currently holds 859,853 ETH valued at approximately $3.57 billion. This makes SharpLink the second-largest corporate holder of Ethereum, controlling 0.71% of the total supply.

The deployment will use Linea’s zkEVM layer-2 infrastructure. The company expects to generate returns through multiple channels including staking, restaking, and network incentives.

SharpLink Gaming Ltd., SBET

SharpLink will work with ether.fi for staking and restaking services. The company will also tap into EigenCloud’s decentralized verification services.

Staking involves locking up crypto assets to help secure a blockchain network in exchange for rewards. Restaking allows users to reuse their staked assets to support additional services and earn extra returns.

Anchorage Digital Bank will serve as the qualified custodian managing the assets under institutional safeguards. The company emphasized this controls-first approach aligns with governance and compliance requirements for public companies.

Yield Generation Strategy

The strategy combines three main yield streams according to the company. First, SharpLink will earn native staking returns on its Ether holdings.

Second, the company plans to access institutional-grade staking and restaking through ether.fi. Third, it expects to receive incentives from Linea and partner programs.

Linea’s zkEVM design offers faster settlement and lower fees compared to Ethereum’s main network. The company says these features are necessary for institutional workflows.

Industry Trend Toward DeFi Yields

SharpLink isn’t the first major holder to pursue DeFi yield strategies. ETHZilla announced in September it would deploy $100 million of ETH to ether.fi.

ETHZilla currently ranks as the fifth-largest Ethereum treasury holder with 102,326 ETH. The Ethereum Foundation deployed 45,000 ETH into DeFi protocols including Spark and Compound in February.

The foundation’s treasury policy from June outlined plans to move beyond passive holdings. It now stakes and deploys ETH across various DeFi protocols.

Centralized exchanges have joined the trend. Coinbase partnered with DeFi lending protocol Morpho in September to let users lend USDC stablecoins for yields up to 10.8%.

Crypto.com announced plans in October to integrate Morpho into its Cronos blockchain. Users will be able to deposit wrapped ETH and other assets to earn stablecoin yields through lending vaults later this year.

Co-CEO Joseph Chalom said the goal is to unlock staking, restaking and DeFi incentives without sacrificing safeguards. Consensys founder Joseph Lubin, who also serves as SharpLink’s chairman, said Linea aims to make ether deployments more productive.

SharpLink outlined a broader roadmap with Consensys to co-develop capital-markets tools on Linea. These include on-chain capital raises, programmable liquidity tools and tokenized equity strategies as future projects.

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