Even though SharpLink is now the world's biggest publicly traded Ether holder, other organizations, such as BlackRock and the Ethereum Foundation, still own more ETH.
For $463 million, sports betting site SharpLink Gaming purchased 176,271 Ether, making it the largest publicly listed ETH holder in the world.
The Nasdaq-listed business said in a Friday announcement that $79 million had been raised since May 30 through a combination of at-the-market share sales and private placement to finance the Ether acquisition. $2,626 per coin was the average purchasing price.
According to the firm, more than 95% of its Ethereum is now used in staking and liquid staking platforms, generating income and bolstering the security of the Ethereum network.
According to Rob Phythian, CEO of SharpLink Gaming, "This is a landmark moment for SharpLink and for public company adoption of digital assets." The company now views ETH as its "primary treasury reserve asset."
"Ether’s MicroStrategy"
SharpLink is the first publicly traded firm to use Ethereum as its primary treasury reserve asset. This move is similar to Plan's Bitcoin-buying plan, except it is focused on Ethereum.
With the goal of providing shareholders with "significant economic exposure to ETH," SharpLink (SBET) is the first company listed on the Nasdaq to implement an ETH-based treasury model, according to the company.
Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum and chairman of SharpLink, stated in the release that the company's audacious ETH plan is a significant turning point and creative approach to the institutional adoption of Ethereum.
"SharpLink is contributing to Ethereum's long-term security and trust features while earning more ETH for that work by allocating considerable cash to ETH and using it in network activities like staking," he continued.
Others who own more Ethereum than SharpLink
Even though SharpLink is now the world's biggest publicly traded Ether holder, other organizations continue to possess more ETH.
The Ethereum Foundation currently has 214,129 ETH ($594 million) in its coffers, according to Arkham statistics.
Although they do so on behalf of clients, certain cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers, like BlackRock, actually hold a much larger quantity of Ether. As of Thursday, the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF had over 1.7 million Ethereum, valued at approximately $4.5 billion, according to BlackRock data.
The dispute surrounding SharpLink's ETH strategy
There has been some disagreement around SharpLink's ETH approach. Following its May 27 ETH treasury announcement, the company's share price surged by almost 400%, according to Cointelegraph.
Google Finance reports that shares fell around 73% in after-hours trading on Thursday, from $32.53 to below $8 before partially recovering, following the news of an S-3 SEC filing earlier this week. A misinterpretation caused the steep sell-off: The filing permitted the possible resale of around 58.7 million shares from PIPE participants, although it was not a real sale.
Echoing Strategy's well-known Bitcoin strategy, the acquisition is part of a larger trend of corporate crypto treasury adoption, but it places Ether at the forefront of digital capital reserves.
