Exclusive: Michael Saylor Pioneered Crypto Treasury Firms, But This Ethereum-Centric Company CEO Says Their Model Unlocks More Potential: Here's Why

Sharplink Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ:SBET) CEO Joseph Chalom recognized Michael Saylor’s role in setting benchmarks for publicly-listed cryptocurrency treasury companies.

Saylor Led The Crypto Treasury Wave

Chalom, who is spearheading Sharplink’s Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)-centric operations, credits Saylor for demonstrating that a digital asset treasury firm can be “durable over multiple years.”

The top executive said that Saylor, at the helm of the world’s biggest Bitcoin treasury company, Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), showed how capital markets can be utilized to amplify exposure when you have “credibility and liquidity.”

However, in the same breath, Chalom added that the approach taken by Sharplink is markedly different.

Ethereum’s Advantages Over Other Assets

“Ethereum is a generational opportunity, and differs greatly from Bitcoin because it is a natively productive, programmable asset,” he stated.

Chalom argued that Ethereum’s “programmable nature” unlocks huge technological opportunities that are not possible with treasuries centered on other assets.

Notably, Sharplink moved $170 million worth of ETH into yield‑generating strategies, including staking and restaking, on Linea, an Ethereum-based Layer 1 network. This forms part of their broader plan to allocate corporate treasury assets to decentralized finance and generate income, rather than keeping them idle on the balance sheet.

Sharplink holds 865,797 ETH, worth nearly $2.5 billion, as of this writing, making it the second-biggest ETH treasury firm in the world. The firm has earned 11,614 ETH in staking rewards since launching its ETH-focused strategy on June 2, 2025.

Notably, Sharplink recorded an unrealized loss of $580.59 million on its ETH holdings.

Price Action: At the time of writing, ETH was exchanging hands at $2,885.21, down 1.84% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Sharplink shares closed 0.31% lower at $9.750 on Friday. Since launching the ETH strategy, the stock has collapsed 82%.

SBET maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with Momentum as the strongest category at 51.11/100, according to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

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