NASDAQ-listed sportsbook marketing firm SharpLink Gaming bought almost $49 million worth of Ether (ETH) on Sunday, as ETH prices soared past $3,000.
The company, whose board is chaired by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, has been all-in on ETH since late May. This transaction brings SharpLink Gaming’s total treasury value to 198,300 ETH, worth nearly $608 million at time of writing.
According to onchain analytics service Arkham Intelligence and blockchain explorer Etherscan, a wallet belonging to SharpLink Gaming received 16,370 ETH worth $48.7 million on Sunday, from a wallet likely controlled by Ethereum development organization Consensys.
The transaction followed the company’s acquisition of 10,000 ETH from the Ethereum Foundation on Friday.
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SharpLink Gaming and the rise of ETH as a reserve asset
SharpLink Gaming is the world’s top corporate Ether treasury. At the time of writing, the company held 181,860 Liquid Staked ETH (LSETH) and 16,419 ETH.
This totaled almost 198,300 Ether, more than the 197,400 ETH held by the Ethereum Foundation, according to Arkham Intelligence data.
Across the board, corporate Ether reserves have now reached nearly 1.34 million ETH, valued at almost $4.1 billion at the time of writing.
Related: ETH news update: Ether treasury purchases could trigger rally to $3K
Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin
SharpLink Gaming announced its pivot to an Ether corporate treasury in late May and nominated Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as chairman of its board of directors. At the time, the firm entered into a securities purchase agreement for a private investment in public equity worth $425 million, with participation from Ethereum infrastructure firm Consensys.
On Wednesday, Ethereum’s Lubin said that Ether treasuries are crucial for the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. He explained that a large amount of ETH is in circulation and needs to be captured.
Lubin said this prompted his involvement with SharpLink Gaming. “It’s going to be critical to enable the supply-demand dynamics of Ether to right-size as we build more and more applications,” he said.
The announcement followed Ether regaining $3,000 last week. According to Nansen data, ETH was trading at $3,050 at publication after seeing its price increase by 3.5% over the past 24 hours.
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