Ethereum Price Climbs As SharpLink Allocates $425M To ETH Amid Staking ETF Delays

Ethereum ETH/USD rose 4.38% over 24 hours to $2,601.54, with trading volume surpassing $12.7 billion, the highest since May’s Pectra upgrade. The spike follows a $425 million treasury allocation by SharpLink Gaming Ltd SBET, signaling growing corporate interest in Ethereum despite ongoing scrutiny from the SEC over staking-related ETFs.

SharpLink said the private placement, led by Consensys, will be used to acquire Ethereum and support participation in staking and DeFi. Robert DeLucia, Chief Financial Officer at SharpLink, confirmed the funds mark a shift toward crypto-native balance sheets. Joseph Lubin, Chief Executive Officer of Consensys and Ethereum co-founder, joined SharpLink’s board as chairman, stating the partnership merges SharpLink’s capital markets expertise with Consensys’ blockchain infrastructure.

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The move is a direct echo of the Bitcoin BTC/USD treasury strategy pioneered by Strategy Inc MSTR, now expanding into Ethereum. Ethereum’s share of global stablecoin volume remains over 51%, and whale holdings have increased 5% in the past month, according to Glassnode.

Despite the ETH rally, SharpLink stock dropped 38% to $47.16 after a brief high of $124 last week. The sell-off follows a 1,162% monthly gain, highlighting speculative volatility around crypto treasury plays.

SEC paused filings for the Rex Shares and Osprey Funds Ethereum staking ETFs despite previous indications that both products were effective as of May 30. James Seyffart, ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the delay stems from structural inconsistencies, not regulatory hostility toward staking.

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Speaking with digital asset publication Blockworks, Seyffart suggested that the ETF applications’ C-corporation models may still position them for approval by year-end.

Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store, told Blockworks that issuers are testing boundaries in a favorable regulatory environment, motivated by first-mover advantage. Geraci expects the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to greenlight both Ethereum and Solana SOL/USD spot ETFs with staking features before 2026.

The Ethereum Foundation announced a restructuring of its research and development arm, now renamed “Protocol.” Some staff were laid off to streamline base-layer scaling efforts and improve developer experience. Hsiao-Wei Weng, Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, noted that the changes will accelerate the integration of Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4844 and boost tooling for builders.

According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum’s market capitalization stands at $314.07 billion, with a 9.48% share of the total crypto market. Layer-2 usage remains strong, with daily active addresses climbing 12% despite persistent congestion concerns.

Traders are watching for further U.S. SEC updates, protocol milestones, and corporate treasury disclosures. A continued Ethereum accumulation trend among public companies may tighten available supply and drive further price action. Futures open interest, derivatives positioning, and options skew will provide additional insight into market sentiment.

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