SharpLink Gaming (SBET) Stock Buys Ether for First Time in 8 Months as ETH Hits 2026 Low

TLDR

• Sharplink bought 5,000 ETH worth $7.85 million on Thursday — its first Ether purchase since October 2025
• The buy came as ETH hit $1,537, its lowest price of 2026, down 5% in 24 hours
• Sharplink holds 876,285 ETH worth roughly $1.3 billion, with an average buy price of $3,609 per ETH — implying an unrealized loss of ~$1.79 billion
• The company is expected to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on Monday
• Sharplink’s stock closed down 3.49% at $4.56, and is down 50.4% over the past six months

Sharplink bought 5,000 ETH on Thursday for $7.85 million — its first Ether purchase in eight months. The move came as ETH fell to $1,537, its lowest point in 2026.

Sharplink, Inc., SBET

On-chain data from Arkham, flagged by analyst EmberCN, showed the funds came from crypto prime broker FalconX. The last time Sharplink used the same route was October 2025, when it spent $78.3 million on 19,270 ETH.

Sharplink’s stock closed at $4.56 on Thursday, down 3.49% on the day. Over the past six months, the stock has dropped 50.4%.

Sharplink now holds 876,285 ETH and ETH equivalents. At current prices, that stash is worth around $1.3 billion. The average acquisition cost sits at $3,609 per ETH, which puts the unrealized loss at roughly $1.79 billion.

That’s a tough spot to be in. But the buy suggests the company still believes in the trade.

ETH Catalysts CEO Has Been Watching

Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom outlined three catalysts for Ethereum back in May. The first was passage of the CLARITY Act in the US. The Senate has yet to vote on it, but the House Financial Services Committee is set to hold a hearing on July 17.

His second catalyst was a return to market risk appetite, tied to cooling geopolitical tension and a pullback in the AI investment thesis. The US and Iran are currently working toward a peace agreement.

The third was growth in real-world asset tokenization. Tokenized real-world assets have now reached a distributed asset value of $31.55 billion, close to its highest level this year.

Some of the pieces Chalom was waiting on are starting to move.

Russell Index Inclusion Coming Monday

The purchase comes just days before Sharplink is set to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on Monday. Inclusion typically triggers buying from funds that track those benchmarks, both active and passive.

Chalom said in May that joining the Russell indexes would broaden the shareholder base and improve access to capital markets.

Sharplink remains the world’s second-largest public ETH treasury company. It trails Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion by a wide margin — Bitmine holds 5.67 million Ethereum worth $8.7 billion after buying another 52,203 ETH last week.

Sharplink reported $12.1 million in total revenue in Q1 2026, up from $742,000 in Q1 2025.

Ethereum fell 5% in the past 24 hours to $1,534 as of Thursday evening. Bitcoin dropped 3.3% to $58,787 in the same period.

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