SharpLink Shares Crash Following Resale Filing, Market Misreads Ethereum Treasury Strategy

13. Jun 2025 Posted by Laurent C. on News

SharpLink Gaming, the Nasdaq-listed company building an Ethereum-based corporate treasury, witnessed a dramatic 75% plunge in its share price during after-hours trading on Thursday. The crash followed the company’s filing of a resale registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), prompting panic among investors.

The stock, trading under the ticker SBET, initially dropped 12.25% during Thursday’s regular session to close at $32.50, according to Google Finance. After the markets closed, shares fell sharply to as low as $8 before partially recovering to $11.15.

The catalyst for the steep decline was SharpLink’s S-3 registration with the SEC, which allows for the potential resale of approximately 58.7 million common shares. These shares were previously issued to over 100 investors as part of a private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal.

The news triggered concerns of imminent dilution, leading to a rush of sell-offs as investors feared being undercut by others — a classic case of the "prisoner's dilemma," according to BTCS CEO Charles Allen.

However, company leadership moved quickly to clarify the situation. Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys and Chairman of SharpLink, explained via X (formerly Twitter) that the registration was a routine post-PIPE step and does not reflect actual sales activity.

“The filing registers shares for potential resale by prior investors,” Lubin stated. “The figures shown are hypothetical and assume full resale — neither Consensys nor I have sold any shares.”

SharpLink has been in the spotlight since early June, when Ethereum infrastructure firm Consensys led a $425 million private investment into the sports betting platform. The funding is part of a bold plan to convert SharpLink into an Ethereum-native corporate treasury.

Just weeks ago, the company announced an ambitious plan to raise up to $1 billion through common stock offerings, intending to deploy the proceeds into purchasing ETH.

While Thursday's crash reflects the volatility that can come with transformative strategies and complex financial instruments, Lubin and SharpLink leadership remain confident in their Ethereum-aligned vision — despite the market's short-term turbulence.