Ethereum Treasury Firm SharpLink Stakes $170 Million of ETH on Linea

Core Insights - SharpLink Gaming has deployed $170 million worth of ETH to the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, Linea, as part of a multi-year strategy to optimize on-chain yields for its Ethereum holdings [1] - The firm aims to generate additional yield beyond current staking rewards and push for institutional-grade DeFi adoption [2] - SharpLink maintains a treasury of 864,840 ETH valued at nearly $2.7 billion, all staked via custodians, and plans to engage in more deals to enhance stockholder value [3] Company Strategy - The deployment on Linea will allow SharpLink to gain re-staking rewards from Eigen Cloud and incentives from EtherFi and Linea, in addition to native ETH staking yields [3] - The firm is focused on driving real-world activity to Ethereum-aligned products, emphasizing its commitment to Ethereum's success [3] Market Performance - Following the announcement of the staking plan, SharpLink's stock saw a gain of approximately 1.4%, with shares closing at $10.28, which is over 33% lower than the level at the time of the staking plan announcement [2] Industry Context - SharpLink is a member of the Linea Consortium, which manages the distribution of the LINEA token, and has connections to Linea through its Chairman, Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum [4] - The total value locked (TVL) on the Linea network has seen a significant decline, dropping from a peak of $1.64 billion to approximately $185.74 million, indicating challenges in the layer-2 network's adoption [4]