SharpLink Gaming is raising $425 million via a private placement to establish ether as its primary treasury reserve asset, marking a major shift for a publicly traded U.S. company that operates as a sports betting firm as it follows the playbook of Michael Saylor’s Strategy and other firms that have emulated it.

The deal is being led by Consensys Software, headed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, who will become SharpLink’s board chair upon closing. 

Other major crypto investors, including Pantera Capital and Electric Capital, also participated in the raise.


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SharpLink, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker SBET, saw its stock price soar more than 400% after the news.

The proceeds will be used to acquire around 120,000 ETH, potentially making the firm a “public ETH proxy” and marking the first time a Nasdaq-listed company has established an ETH treasury.

ETH rallied 8% to an intraday high of $2,700 on Tuesday afternoon ET before settling lower at around $2,635 as of 2:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.