Joe Lubin-backed Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink to join the Russel indexes
The inclusion could attract fresh passive inflows from index-tracking funds, while the firm’s stock tanked 95% from its peak over the past year.
What to know:
- SharpLink will join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes effective June 29.
- The company held nearly 873,000 ETH, worth roughly $1.8 billion at current prices.
- The inclusion comes as many digital asset treasury firms have slowed or halted crypto purchases.
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Russell indexes are widely followed benchmarks for U.S. equities, with roughly $12 trillion in assets tied to them through passive and active investment strategies, the press release said. Membership in the Russell 2000, the benchmark for small-cap U.S. stocks, could increase trading volumes and institutional ownership.
SharpLink has emerged as one of the largest public holders of ether (ETH), part of a wave of companies adopting crypto treasury strategies last year modeled after the bitcoin holder Strategy (MSTR). Since then, most digital asset treasuries halted or pivoted to selling their assets as their stock prices cratered and crypto markets pulled back.
The firm held 872,984 ETH in early May, according to its latest quarterly earnings report, making it the second-largest public ETH treasury, trailing Bitmine’s 5.4 million ETH stash. SharpLink’s holding is worth roughly $1.8 billion at current prices, and it hasn’t reported any ETH purchases since October.
