As institutional adoption of digital assets matures, a new corporate playbook is emerging: treat ether not just as an investment, but as a productive financial infrastructure.
The move comes amid sharp downward market volatility. SharpLink Gaming (SBET) – which saw its stock rise last May after adopting an ether treasury strategy — has since declined (along with every other of 2025’s hastily formed digital asset treasury companies). It’s a reminder of the turbulence that continues to define the asset class.
At a panel discussion at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 with Sharplink Chairman Joe Lubin and CEO Joseph Chalom, the two executives outlined how DATs are evolving into a distinct institutional strategy.
“I’ve never seen more of a moment of differentiation where the actual macro tailwind for Ethereum has never been better in its 10-and-a-half-year history,” Chalom said, pointing to the growth of stablecoins and tokenization. “Listen to Larry Fink in Davos when he tells you $14 trillion of BlackRock assets will be tokenized, and over 65% of that to date is happening on Ethereum.”
While recent ether price actions and ETF flows have raised concerns, Chalom framed them as part of broader macro risk mitigation. “Bitcoin and ether were very easy to de-risk,” he said, adding that rotations out of liquid assets are typical during volatility. “The biggest players in institutional finance are telling us loudly – they’re coming to ether.”
SharpLink’s strategy differs, he argued, because it uses permanent capital. “An ETF is a great passive exposure mechanism, but it has to provide daily liquidity … We own permanent capital,” he said. “The third stage – which is actually the most important – is to make your ETH productive.”
Lubin emphasized the distinguishing feature of ether: yield.
“Ether would be a much better asset … because it’s a productive asset. It gives. It has a risk-free rate,” he said, referring to betting returns of around 3%. SharpLink has staked almost all of its holdings and plans to continue accumulating. “We keep buying ether. We keep staking ether and adding new dividends to ether.”
Beyond betting, Chalom described what he called “good institutional DeFi,” using long-term locked-in capital to earn risk-adjusted returns rather than chasing venture-style upside. “We’re not looking for convex VC 10x results – we’re looking for the best risk-adjusted return for our investors. And we’re actually convinced that by doing that, we’ll improve the DeFi ecosystem by raising its standards.”
For Lubin, the shift resembles the early Internet era. “A long time ago … there were internet companies. Now every company is an internet company. Soon every company will be a blockchain company,” he said, predicting that companies will increasingly hold tokens on their balance sheets and require sophisticated onchain treasury tools.
Read more: Ethereum tax company SharpLink stakes $170M ETH on the Linea network
