As institutional adoption of digital assets matures, a new corporate playbook is emerging: treating Ether (ETH) not just as an investment, but as productive financial infrastructure. This shift is occurring against a backdrop of sharp downward market volatility, which has impacted companies like SharpLink Gaming (SBET) that adopted ETH treasury strategies in 2025.
At a panel discussion at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, SharpLink Chairman Joe Lubin and CEO Joseph Chalom outlined how Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) are evolving into a distinct institutional strategy. Chalom highlighted strong macro tailwinds for Ethereum, pointing to the growth of stablecoins and tokenization. "Listen to Larry Fink at Davos, when he’s telling you $14 trillion of BlackRock assets will be tokenized, and over 65% of that to date is happening on Ethereum," he said.
Chalom framed recent ETH price action and ETF flow concerns as part of broader macro de-risking, noting that "The largest players in institutional finance are telling us out loud — they’re coming to ether." He argued SharpLink’s strategy differs from passive ETF exposure because it deploys permanent capital and focuses on making ETH productive through staking and other yield-generating activities.
Lubin emphasized Ether’s yield as a distinguishing feature, calling it a productive asset with a risk-free rate, referring to staking returns of roughly 3%. SharpLink has staked nearly all its holdings and plans to continue accumulating ETH. Beyond staking, Chalom described "good institutional DeFi," using long-term locked capital to earn risk-adjusted returns rather than chasing venture-style upside.
Concurrently, market analysis points to underlying institutional strength for ETH. US-listed Ether ETFs recently broke a three-day streak of outflows, attracting $71 million in fresh capital. Assets under management have stabilized at $13 billion, with ETFs averaging over $1.65 billion in daily trading volume—a level of liquidity that enables participation by large hedge funds.
While the ETH price failed to sustain levels above $2,000, on-chain metrics show resilience. Weekly decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on the Ethereum network surged to $20 billion, up from $9.8 billion one month prior. This increased activity drove DApps revenue to $26.6 million for the week ending Feb. 8, narrowing the gap with Solana, which led with $31.1 million. Despite Ethereum's Total Value Locked (TVL) dropping to $54.2 billion from $71.2 billion a month prior, analysts suggest strong indicators exist for a potential near-term rally toward $2,400, fueled by resumed ETF inflows and improving DApp demand.
