SharpLink’s 280K ETH Hoard Surpasses Ethereum Foundation – Is a Power Shift Coming?

Move over, Ethereum Foundation—SharpLink just became the whale in the room. With a staggering 280,000 ETH stash, the obscure player now holds more than the protocol's own founding org (241,000 ETH). Cue the market whispers: Is this a strategic power play or just another crypto cash grab?

Why It Matters

When an outsider flips the script on Ethereum’s original guardians, eyebrows (and maybe red flags) shoot up. SharpLink’s pile could mean voting clout, staking dominance, or just a very expensive bet on ETH 2.0’s success. Meanwhile, the Foundation’s shrinking war chest raises questions—are they diversifying or quietly exiting?

The Cynic’s Take

Let’s be real—this could just be another ‘number go up’ flex. Crypto’s rich list has always been a game of musical chairs, and today’s whale is tomorrow’s liquidation panic. But for now? SharpLink’s sitting on a $1 billion+ stack. Not bad for an outfit nobody Googled last week.

Key Takeaways

SharpLink Gaming has over 280,000 ETH, outpacing the ethereum Foundation’s 241K ETH holdings. Tom Lee projected a potential ETH breakout above $4K later in 2025. 

SharpLink Gaming’s Ethereum [ETH] treasury reserve hit 280,706 ETH, surpassing the Ethereum Foundation (EF) as the world’s largest corporate ETH holder. 

Last week, the sports betting and gaming affiliate giant bought 74,656 ETH at an average price of $2,852. 

This buying power was part of the firm’s $413 million capital raised from selling 24.56 million shares over the same period. 

Per data from Strategic ETH Reserve (SER), the purchase tipped SharpLink Gaming to the top of the leaderboard, surpassing EF by nearly 40K ETH. 

Source: SER

SharpLink Gaming ETH bet

In late May, the gaming giant announced its ETH strategy, with a $1 billion target per SEC filing. 

It brought Joseph Lubin, Consensys CEO and Ethereum co-founder, as its chair to drive the vision. Nearly half of the target ($425 million) was raised, backed by Consensys. 

By June, the firm acquired its first ETH stash of 12,207 ETH and staked everything, earning an extra 120 ETH. 

From last week’s bid, SharpLink staked 99.7%, bringing its cumulative staking yield to 415 ETH.

Still, $257 million was yet to be deployed, and the overall capital raised was below the $1B target. Now, the firm has an unrealized profit of $153 million minus staking rewards. 

Besides, the expected stablecoin boom could offer more upside potential for ETH treasuries and holders. In fact, this is the primary catalyst behind BitMine Technologies’ ETH strategy, led by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee. 

Treasury craze on ETH price

As of the time of writing, BitMine was the fourth-largest ETH treasury with 163.1K ETH.

And Lee projected that a breakout from its 4-year price range could push the asset higher amid the stablecoin and tokenisation boom. 

“ETH rangebound since 2021, but the rise of stablecoins $CRCL $USDT and Wall Street tokenizing real-world assets is driving up demand for ETH = upside” 

Source: Tom Lee/X

Lee added that growing network activity and expected Fed rate cuts later in 2025 WOULD provide the needed liquidity to boost ETH’s momentum. 

The recent reclaim of $3K has reinforced a bullish structure, and the market appeared to be pricing an extended rally in the NEAR term. 

According to Sean Dawson, head of research at Options platform Derive, an ETH surge to $4K by the end of July was already “confirmed.”

However, Deribit data showed Option traders were only pricing a 3.7% chance that ETH could hit $4K by end-July.

But the odds of $4K target being hit surged to 20% and 27% by August and September, suggesting a bullish cue for Q3. 

Source: Deribit