Shares of Minneapolis-based sports marketing company SharpLink (ticker: SBET) soared 412% on Tuesday following the announcement of a new Ethereum treasury reserve strategy, spearheaded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin.
SharpLink, founded in 1995, saw its share price jump from $7 on Friday to $34.45 on Tuesday, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $23 million.
The company is in the process of raising roughly $425 million through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering. The capital raised will be primarily used to acquire ether (ETH), which will become SharpLink’s main treasury reserve asset.
Leading the investment round is Consensys, the Ethereum software firm co-founded by Lubin. Additional investors include notable crypto-focused firms such as Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Ondo, alongside several smaller participants.
The PIPE offering is expected to close on May 29, at which point Joseph Lubin will assume the role of chairman of SharpLink’s board of directors.
SharpLink’s move places it among a growing number of microcap companies adopting cryptocurrency treasury strategies, inspired by the success of MicroStrategy (MSTR). MicroStrategy, the pioneer of corporate bitcoin treasury strategy, has seen its shares climb over 3,000% in the last five years.
In a related development, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) also announced on Tuesday a $2.5 billion capital raise to fund its own bitcoin treasury initiative.
