Consensys CEO Joe Lubin Is Poised to Become Ethereum’s Michael Saylor

Consensys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin is set to become the face of Ethereum corporate treasuries, with plans to become chairman of the board of one of the first publicly traded companies to stockpile ETH.

SharpLink Gaming, an affiliate marketing firm for sports betting and online casinos, announced today, May 27, that it plans to raise $425 million to create a corporate ETH treasury.

The publicly held company said that it’s entering into an agreement to sell over 69.1 million shares of its stock to raise the funds, echoing Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which stockpiles BTC.

The firm also revealed that Lubin would become chairman of SharpLink’s board, once the deal closes. Per the announcement, Consensys is the lead investor, but a number of other top crypto VC firms participated in the deal, including Pantera Capital, Arrington Capital, Galaxy Digital,Hivemind Capital, and Primitive Ventures.

ETH is up almost 6% on the news, trading just under $2,700.

Saylor’s Strategy

The move echoes Saylor’s then groundbreaking decision back in 2020 to create a Bitcoin treasury for his publicly traded software company.

Strategy started out as a business software company called MicroStrategy, before Saylor began buying Bitcoin and singing its praises, becoming one of Bitcoin’s top evangelists over the past few years. He frequently argues that companies (and everyone else) should buy as much Bitcoin as possible, even buying at the top of the market, and hold onto it.

The Bitcoin superbull has said that a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would “neutralize the national debt,” which currently stands at $36.9 trillion.

Saylor’s Strategy currently holds 580,250 BTC, or about 2.74% of the total supply of Bitcoin, worth about $64 billion at current prices. The company continues to aggressively buy BTC on a regular basis. On May 26, Saylor announced the latest purchase of 4,020 BTC for $427 million.

Like Strategy, SharpLink Gaming is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq, and one of the first public firms to establish a corporate treasury for ETH.

There are major corporate holders of ETH, however. Abraxas Capital Management, a privately held crypto investment firm, has recently been actively buying ETH, and currently holds nearly $947 million worth.

Abraxas also has substantial Bitcoin holdings, but earlier this month it sold $150 million worth in what appears to be a pivot toward Ethereum

Establishing crypto corporate treasuries has become a broader trend in recent months, expanding beyond Bitcoin. In April, Nasdaq-traded consumer products firm Upexi announced it was raising $100 million to buy SOL. Today, Upexi released the details of its Solana treasury strategy.

Stock Soaring

Calling it “an exciting time for the Ethereum community,” Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum, said in SharpLink’s press release that he is delighted “to bring the Ethereum opportunity to public markets. Consensys looks forward to partnering with SharpLink to explore and develop an Ethereum Treasury Strategy and to work with them in their core business as a strategic advisor.”

Online casino, sports betting and iGaming affiliate marketing firm SharpLink’s foray into crypto began this February, when it announced that it had acquired 10% stake in the parent company of an online crypto casino.

Today’s news of its foray into Ethereum sent SharpLink’s stock soaring, rising over 430%.

“This is a significant milestone in SharpLink’s journey and marks an expansion beyond our core business,” said SharpLink’s founder and CEO, Rob Phythian, adding: “On closing, we look forward to working with Consensys and welcoming Joseph to the Board.”

Lubin’s position as chairman of SharpLink’s board is set to begin when the private placement closes, which is expected to occur around May 29.