How SharpLink plans to grow in 2026 after raising nearly $3 billion in Ethereum

Publicly traded Ethereum treasury company SharpLink Gaming aims to “pioneer” the productive use of ETH by digital asset treasuries by 2026, after adding billions of dollars in crypto assets last year.

The company, which has amassed more than 865,000 ETH since implementing its treasury strategy last May – approximately $2.75 billion worth as of Tuesday – kick-started its mission last week by deploying $170 million worth of ETH for increased incentives and wagering rewards on layer 2 network, Linea.

“2025 was a year when DATs did their first accumulation, 2026 should be the year of productivity,” SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom said Tuesday on FOMO Hour, a show from Declutterthe sister company of Rug Radio.

“We want to be pioneers,” he added. “What do I mean by breakthrough ETH productivity? It turns out that there are very few people in crypto who have long-term capital. We currently own almost $3 billion of what I call ‘permanent capital’. We had the ability to do something that no one had done before.”

In other words, the company’s multi-year commitment to staking and its long-term prospects have provided opportunities that more short-term-oriented institutions or investors would not have access to. And SharpLink wants to go even further in the future.

Although only $170 million of its treasury is currently deployed on Linea, the company has deployed almost all of its assets and is earning returns through other protocols.

According to Chalom, SharpLink will continue to operate with financial flexibility and optionality in mind, adding that some of the company’s ETH “will remain in native stakes, some of it will be in re-withdrawal, some of it will be in liquid re-withdrawal tokens, and I think we will retain some of our portfolio to be opportunistic.”

That means SharpLink could soon act as a lender, providing funding or liquidity to other protocols that may need it.

“I think you’ll see us pushing the efficient frontier of what you can do when you have ‘permanent capital,’” he said.

The revenue generated from staking ETH makes Chalom possible joined SharpLink in July after leading BlackRock’s digital asset strategy, and the company’s ability to weather crypto’s volatility, he said.

“We are built so that when ETH rises, our stock price benefits. If ETH falls, we have no reason to sell,” he said. “And if it goes down, it’s a buying opportunity. We’re built for both cycles.”

Shares of the company (SBET) rose 2.7% on Tuesday and recently changed hands at $10.53, but are down about 51% over the past six months. ETH is up 3% in the last 24 hours and recently traded at $3,206.