SharpLink Adds 10,000 ETH Amid Record Market Fear, Tom Lee Signals Buying Opportunity
Ethereum treasury company SharpLink Gaming (SBET) has significantly expanded its digital asset holdings, acquiring 10,000 ETH this week at an average price of $1,611 per token. The move brings the company's total Ethereum reserves to 886,725 ETH as of June 28, cementing its position as the second-largest corporate Ethereum holder globally, trailing only BitMine.
The acquisition was announced alongside a separate share repurchase program. SharpLink bought back 2,132,773 of its own shares at $4.69 each, deploying approximately $10 million in the process. The company had raised $75 million the prior week through a stock offering priced at a roughly 41% premium. According to SharpLink's leadership, both transactions are components of a unified financial strategy aimed at maximizing the amount of ETH backing each outstanding share.
"We had the opportunity to buy ETH and repurchase our stock at attractive valuations, so we did both. This past week we added 10,000 ETH and repurchased 2,132,773 shares," SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom stated publicly, framing the dual move as a deliberate, value-driven decision.
Despite the bullish posture, the timing raises eyebrows. At press time, Ethereum was trading near $1,570 — below the average acquisition price — placing the newly purchased tranche immediately underwater. Ethereum reached a record high near $4,946 in August 2025 before shedding roughly 69% of its value. Over the past month alone, ETH has declined approximately 23%, meaning the bulk of SharpLink's treasury was accumulated at considerably higher price levels. The current total position is valued at approximately $1.4 billion.
It is also worth noting that SharpLink had only recently resumed Ethereum purchases after an eight-month pause, signaling renewed internal confidence despite broader market weakness.
The firm's aggressive accumulation comes at a time when market sentiment has reached extreme lows. Fundstrat's Tom Lee, who also chairs BitMine — the world's largest Ethereum treasury company — recently pointed to multiple indicators suggesting the market is gripped by fear deeper than anything seen following the FTX collapse in 2022.
"The fear greed index is worse today than it was after the FTX debacle. So, usually that's a good time to be buying something," Lee remarked in a recent interview.
Lee highlighted declining Google search trends and a record-low RSI as additional technical signals of market capitulation. He argued that Ethereum's current price does not reflect its underlying fundamentals, pointing to artificial intelligence integration and real-world asset tokenization as powerful long-term growth catalysts. Lee also publicly dismissed concerns about the Ethereum Foundation following a wave of staff departures, suggesting the fears are overstated.
BitMine itself disclosed approximately 5.7 million ETH along with $9.8 billion in combined crypto and cash assets this week — a position more than six times larger than SharpLink's current holdings.
For Ethereum treasury firms navigating the ongoing price slump, staking rewards have provided a partial buffer against paper losses, generating passive income even as token valuations decline. Whether SharpLink's continued accumulation represents a well-timed bottom call or simply deeper institutional conviction remains to be seen. What is clear is that the company has no intention of slowing its ETH strategy, regardless of prevailing market sentiment.
