Ethereum Foundation Transfers 10,000 ETH to SharpLink Gaming

News Publisher Jul 16, 2025 13:26

The Ethereum Foundation confirmed on July 10, 2025, that it had sold 10,000 ETH ( roughly worth $25.7 million) to SharpLink Gaming in a direct over‑the‑counter (OTC) deal.

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The Ethereum Foundation confirmed on July 10, 2025, that it had sold 10,000 ETH ( roughly worth $25.7 million) to SharpLink Gaming in a direct over‑the‑counter (OTC) deal. Executed at $2,572.37 per coin, the price sat several hundred dollars below the spot market level near the $3,000 mark. By using an OTC channel rather than an exchange, the Foundation avoided the sell pressure that a block sale would exert on open order books.

Purpose and Rationale

For SharpLink, the acquisition marks a strategic entry point into Ethereum’s expanding ecosystem. This includes innovations like decentralized wagering sites and blockchain-based gaming platforms that offer faster payouts, larger bonuses, and more games. The nonprofit, on the other hand, routinely converts portions of its ETH reserves into fiat or stablecoins to bankroll protocol research, developer grants, security audits, and community events. 

Opting for an OTC transfer minimized market disruption while securing immediate working capital for the Foundation’s multi‑year roadmap. Foundation treasurer Aya Miyaguchi stated that the proceeds will “flow straight back into open‑source tooling and new‑entrant grants”. This underscores the organization’s mandate to recycle value into ecosystem growth rather than passive balance‑sheet accumulation.

SharpLink Gaming’s ETH Strategy

SharpLink Gaming’s purchase cements the firm as the largest publicly traded holder of ether, boosting its treasury to an estimated 215,000 ETH (about $558 million at press time). They disclosed their intention to treat Ethereum as its primary reserve asset. This decision came about as a replacement for a cash‑heavy position that had lost purchasing power during recent inflationary cycles.

Executives added that a fair share of the new coins will be staked, with a portion routed into restaking protocols to secure adjacent middleware such as data‑availability layers. SharpLink simultaneously earns yield and removes liquidity from circulation by locking tokens into validators. The firm further argues that this is a “symbiotic” move with long‑term network health.

Market and Strategic Implications

Hours after the sale settled, Ethereum began a sharp rally fueled by record weekly inflows to newly approved U.S. Ether exchange‑traded funds (ETFs). Because the Foundation’s supply never hit public markets, the transaction exerted no discernible downward pressure.

Instead, ETH finished the week up nearly 9%, while SharpLink’s Nasdaq‑listed shares spiked as much as 16% on elevated volume. Analysts hailed the deal as a template for large transfers that bypass exchange slippage, further noting that traditional corporations now possess a playbook for amassing sizable crypto positions without roiling prices.

Ecosystem Context

The main aim is to ensure that the proceeds from programmable assets are recycled into public goods funding. In effect, the transaction forges a feedback loop of corporate demand supplying the nonprofit with dollars, and the nonprofit reinvesting those dollars to make the network more valuable for those very corporations.

Joseph Lubin’s Dual Role

As the guy wearing three intertwined hats (Ethereum co‑founder, CEO of ConsenSys, and non‑executive chairman of SharpLink Gaming), Joseph Lubin oversaw the transaction’s strategic arc. Lubin framed the deal as “a milestone in aligning corporate balance sheets with decentralized infrastructure”. He also added that SharpLink will publish quarterly on‑chain attestations of its holdings.

His dual roles paint a clear picture of the growing web of relationships knitting protocol developers, service providers, and publicly listed adopters. As Ethereum matures, such cross‑sector ties may become the norm rather than the exception, propelling institutional engagement far beyond this week’s headline sale.

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