SharpLink Gaming (SBET), a publicly listed company and the world's second-largest corporate holder of Ethereum, has deployed $170 million worth of ETH on the Linea Layer-2 network. This move, executed on January 8, 2026, is a core component of the company's previously announced $200 million crypto treasury strategy and marks a significant pivot from holding ETH as a passive asset to actively generating on-chain yield.
The deployment was structured with institutional-grade partners to ensure security and compliance. Anchorage Digital served as the qualified custodian, while restaking infrastructure was provided by ether.fi and EigenCloud. This setup allows SharpLink to earn multiple streams of yield: native Ethereum staking rewards (estimated at 3-4%), additional restaking rewards from EigenCloud (adding nearly 5%), and direct incentives from the Linea network.
Joseph Chalom, CEO of SharpLink, framed the deployment as a landmark moment. "Our deployment on Linea unlocks enhanced ETH productivity at scale with the risk controls institutions need," he stated. He and other industry figures, including Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, have declared 2026 the beginning of Ethereum's "productive era," where traditional finance (TradFi) capital begins flowing into the ecosystem through regulated, institutional-grade protocols.
SharpLink holds a total of 859,853 ETH, acquired for $3.1 billion but currently valued at approximately $2.68 billion. The company indicated it is likely to restake more of its holdings to optimize returns. Declan Fox, Head of Linea, emphasized that this transaction exemplifies the network's purpose: "Institutions can deploy ETH productively while satisfying the required security and compliance standards."
The broader implication is a structural shift in corporate treasury management. Analysts suggest that the ability to stake and restake ETH through federally regulated entities like Anchorage Digital will attract more institutional capital to Ethereum's Web3 protocols, potentially catalyzing a bullish outlook for ETH amid an anticipated broader crypto bull market. The pending enactment of the Clarity Act under President Donald Trump is also cited as a factor that could provide further regulatory clarity for the ecosystem.
