SharpLink Buys $259M In ETH To Regain Market Lead

As regulation tightens and corporate treasuries turn to cryptos, a discreet yet strategic battle intensifies around Ether. By repurchasing nearly $259M worth of ETH in a single operation, SharpLink Gaming regains the advantage over BitMine Immersion Technologies. This massive acquisition rekindles a now central competition: that of controlling the largest public reserves of Ether, in a market where every crypto held by institutional hands redefines power balances.

SharpLink strikes hard : a historic ETH acquisition

After an initial acquisition of 10,000 ETH from the Ethereum Foundation, SharpLink Gaming announced in an official statement published this Tuesday that it had acquired 79,949 ETH at an average price of 3,238 dollars, for a total of $258.9 million.

The company, active in the sports betting and performance digital marketing sector, said this was “the largest Ether purchase operation in its history”.

This transaction follows another significant purchase of $49 million in ETH revealed a week earlier. These moves now bring the company’s total Ether holdings to 360,807 ETH, roughly $1.3 billion at the current rate.

These purchases have allowed SharpLink to reclaim its position as the world’s top public ETH holder, ahead of BitMine Immersion Technologies, which held 300,657 ETH the previous week. Key points to note :

• The purchase of 79,949 ETH was made at an average price of $3,238, thus positioning below the current price ;

• The total value of SharpLink’s ETH assets is estimated at around $1.3 billion ;

• This new operation allows the company to regain the top spot in the unofficial ranking of publicly traded companies holding Ether ;

• SharpLink embarked on this strategic pivot toward Ethereum in June 2025, shortly after a private fundraising round.

These massive acquisitions are no coincidence. They reflect a paradigm shift in how some publicly listed companies now consider their treasury: less dependent on fiat, more exposed to strategic cryptos.

A battle of influence between giants : Lubin, Lee, Wood, and Thiel get involved

The confrontation between SharpLink and BitMine Immersion Technologies goes far beyond the ETH volumes accumulated. It now fits into a struggle for influence, where finance personalities and crypto tech figures take sides.

At the end of June, BitMine announced that it had raised $250 million through a private placement and named Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat and renowned crypto analyst, as chairman of its board to steer ETH strategy.

On July 1st, BitMine revealed that Cathie Wood, through ARK Invest, had acquired 4.4 million shares, representing a stake of $175 million. Shortly after, Peter Thiel purchased 5.09 million shares, equivalent to 9 % of the capital.

Faced with this reinforcement of institutional heavyweights at BitMine, SharpLink played another card: that of native Ethereum legitimacy. Last May, the company raised $425 million through a private placement led by Consensys, the conglomerate founded by Joseph Lubin, co-creator of Ethereum.

He was appointed chairman of SharpLink’s board, endorsing the company’s ETH-first orientation. This setup now places the two companies on distinct trajectories: BitMine, originating from bitcoin mining, is converting its strategy toward Ethereum via a classic financial approach. SharpLink, on the other hand, is deeply anchored in the ETH ecosystem, betting on governance, strategic reserve, and trust in the original network.

While BitMine saw a spectacular surge of over 700 % in its stock in early July, briefly reaching $140, it quickly corrected to stabilize around $39.60. SharpLink, with a more moderate gain of 130 %, sees its share hold around $26. An evolution that could indicate market preference for less speculative, more organic growth.

This rivalry between SharpLink and BitMine marks a turning point in the use of crypto, and more precisely Ether. By attracting influential figures like Lubin, Lee, Wood, or Thiel, these two companies turn their treasury strategies into real levers of financial communication and technological positioning. Do these massive moves mark the beginning of a standard for the balance sheets of publicly traded companies, or just another speculative bubble? One thing is certain: Ether is becoming a strategic asset for much more than just DeFi players.