Ethereum Breakthrough: Analysis of Four US Listed Companies with ETH Reserves

Author: Christopher Rosa, Research Analyst at Galaxy Digital; Translated by: Jinse Finance xiaozou

Michael Saylor's innovative approach to large-scale Bitcoin (BTC) allocation through financial engineering at Strategy (MSTR) has sparked a wave of corporate imitation. To date, more than 50 companies have adopted its Bitcoin-centric reserve strategy, and the number continues to grow. However, a new group of companies is forging a different path—they are not only seeking exposure to crypto assets but are also committed to integrating into the economic ecosystem of Ethereum itself.

This article will delve into the first four U.S. listed companies that established Ethereum reserves, tracking their financing paths in detail, assessing "Ethereum concentration" (the amount of ETH held per share), and analyzing the premium levels assigned by the market to their Ethereum reserves. In addition to quantitative indicators, we will also explore the profound impacts of these strategies on the health of the Ethereum network, the staking ecosystem, and DeFi infrastructure, revealing how these financial strategies reshape corporate balance sheets while injecting core capital into the decentralized economic system of Ethereum.

1**、SharpLink Gaming（SBET）**

(1) Company Background

SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ: SBET) was founded in 2019 and is an online technology company that provides real-time betting and interactive gaming services for sports fans through its proprietary platform. The company also develops free games, mobile applications, and provides marketing services for sports media, leagues, teams, and betting platforms to enhance user engagement. Its operations of real-money fantasy sports and simulation games cover over 2 million users, with an annual spending of nearly $40 million, and it has obtained operating licenses in all states across the U.S. that allow fantasy sports and online betting.

Since last month, SharpLink has started to incorporate ETH into its balance sheet through a combination of private equity investments (PIPEs) and at-the-market (ATM) offerings. Management explained that this move stems from a strong belief in the prospects of ETH as an income-generating programmable digital asset, allowing the company to profit from staking and related earnings opportunities. It is worth noting that this innovative financial strategy does not replace its core gaming and interactive betting business, but rather serves as a strategic supplement to its main operations.

(2) Financing and ETH Acquisition Status

(3) ETH Configuration and Staking Status

SharpLink has staked all of its ETH reserves and earned a staking reward of 100 ETH from June 28 to July 4, bringing the total staking earnings to 322 ETH since the program started on June 2.

(4) Core Insights

SharpLink Gaming strategically positions itself in Ethereum, making it the largest holder of ETH reserves among publicly traded companies. Through multiple equity financings, including a $425 million large-scale PIPE financing and subsequent ATM offerings, the company quickly established the largest Ethereum position in its industry. Although this financial strategy carries risks such as ETH price volatility, it also creates substantial staking yield potential, highlighting the appeal of proof-of-stake digital assets as reserve assets. By 100% staking ETH reserves, SharpLink not only generates revenue but also directly enhances the security and stability of the Ethereum network—both enriching the diversity of validator participation and deeply binding corporate capital to the healthy development of the protocol.

2**、BitMine Immersion Technologies（BMNR）**

(1) Company Background

BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) is a blockchain infrastructure company headquartered in Las Vegas that operates industrial-grade Bitcoin mining facilities, sells immersion cooling hardware, and hosts third-party mining machines in low-cost energy regions such as Texas and Trinidad.

On June 30, the company raised approximately $250 million through a private placement of 55.6 million shares (at $4.50 per share) to expand its Ethereum reserves. As part of the transaction, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee was appointed as the chairman of the BitMine board, and the addition of this well-known crypto strategist will guide its expansion of the ETH allocation plan.

(2) Financing and ETH Acquisition Status**

(3) ETH configuration and staking situation

BMNR holds a large reserve of ETH, but as of the writing of this article, there has been no public information confirming whether it has used some of the ETH for active staking or on-chain deployment.

(4) Core Insights

BitMine raised $250 million in financing, adding approximately 81,380 ETH to its balance sheet, bringing its total holdings to over 163,000 ETH. To support this accumulation, the company increased its diluted total share capital to over 56 million shares, a nearly 13-fold increase. Such a degree of equity dilution highlights the massive equity issuance required to support a large-scale Ethereum reserve strategy, as well as the capital-intensive nature of accumulating ETH in the open market.

3**、Bit Digital（BTBT）**

(1) Company Background

Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT) is a New York-based digital asset platform established in 2015, initially operating industrial-grade Bitcoin mining farms in the United States, Canada, and Iceland.

In June 2025, the company raised approximately $172 million through a fully underwritten public follow-on offering and, combined with the proceeds from the sale of 280 BTC, reallocated capital to Ethereum, cumulatively purchasing around 100,603 ETH, completing a strategic transition to an Ethereum staking and reserve model under the leadership of CEO and crypto industry veteran Sam Tabar.

(2) Financing and ETH Acquisition Status

(3) ETH configuration and staking situation

As of March 31, Bit Digital holds approximately 24,434 ETH, of which 21,568 ETH is in active staking. The company's report indicates that its average annualized yield for ETH staking activities in 2024 is 3.2%.

After completing its strategic transformation, Bit Digital significantly expanded its ETH reserves through public offerings and the sale of BTC, increasing its total holdings to 100,603 ETH. While the company has not disclosed the specific amount of ETH to be staked and the expected yield after the transformation, its past operations indicate that it will continue to generate income through Ethereum staking.

(4) Core Insights

Bit Digital's financial transformation is particularly noteworthy, as it combines traditional public offerings with unconventional BTC liquidation to purchase ETH. This strategy makes it a standout among publicly listed crypto companies, highlighting the passive balance sheet function relative to BTC and the company's strong confidence in ETH's revenue-generating capabilities.

4**、**GameSquare (GAME)

(1) Company Background

GameSquare Holdings (Nasdaq: GAME) is a Texas-based gaming media group that owns brands such as FaZe Clan, Stream Hatchet, and GCN, providing creator-driven marketing and content services for global advertisers targeting Gen Z gamers. In July, the company raised approximately $8 million through a follow-on equity offering and partnered with the crypto institution Dialectic to launch an Ethereum reserve program, aiming to allocate up to $100 million in ETH with a target yield of 8% to 14%.

(2) Financing and ETH Acquisition Status

(3) ETH configuration and staking situation

GameSquare has completed its first Ethereum acquisition, as an important part of its digital asset reserve strategy, the company purchased $5 million worth of ETH. This move marks the company's official entry into the crypto asset reserve space, aiming to diversify its assets and support long-term innovation.

(4) Core Insights

GameSquare's shift to an Ethereum reserve strategy signifies its ambitious breakthrough beyond the core business boundaries of game media. By collaborating with Dialectic and utilizing its Medici platform, the company plans to invest in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector to achieve significant yields of 8% to 14%—far exceeding the standard Ethereum staking yield (typically 3% to 4%). If executed properly, this strategy will directly promote the stability and development of the entire Ethereum ecosystem by enhancing liquidity for key DeFi protocols and enriching validator participation, thereby solidifying the foundation of DeFi infrastructure through active corporate capital involvement.

5**,ETH Concentration**

The ETH concentration metric, pioneered by SharpLink Gaming, provides investors with a clear and comparable parameter for assessing the ETH reserve size of publicly listed companies. This metric is calculated based on the amount of ETH held per 1,000 fully diluted shares outstanding, comprehensively incorporating potential equity dilution factors such as warrants, stock options, and convertible instruments. The ETH holding data presented is sourced from direct disclosures by companies or estimated based on their announced fundraising fully allocated in ETH, while the fully diluted share count is derived from company filings, Bloomberg, SEC documents, and financial databases, ensuring consistency and accuracy across companies. This metric offers investors an intuitive comparison tool based on single-share ETH exposure.

(1) Market value relative to ETH reserve book value premium

The above image shows the multiples of each company's market value relative to the book value of their Ethereum holdings (calculated by multiplying the total amount of ETH held by the cost price of $2,600 per coin). A higher multiple indicates that investor pricing includes the value of strategic options or future earnings expectations that far exceed the basic holdings of ETH. GameSquare (GAME) leads with a premium of about 13.8 times, reflecting strong market optimism about its early ETH position; BitMine (BMNR) has a premium of about 5 times after completing its latest $250 million financing; Bit Digital (BTBT) and SharpLink (SBET) have more moderate premiums, showing relatively restrained market expectations. However, it should be noted that if the ETH price sharply declines, high premiums may amplify downside risks.

(2) Core Insights

ETH** and Bitcoin Reserve Theory Divergence**

The rise of ETH reserves marks an important evolution in the strategies of listed cryptocurrency companies. The theoretical core of Bitcoin is that it serves as a passive, digital gold-like store of value, whereas Ethereum has the unique advantage of generating active income through staking and DeFi strategies. The four companies analyzed in this article have all clearly identified ETH as an income-generating reserve asset: SharpLink and BitMine have committed (or plan to commit) to staking 100% of their holdings to earn protocol layer staking rewards; GameSquare goes a step further by collaborating with Dialectic to employ complex DeFi strategies in pursuit of risk-adjusted enhanced returns. This embrace of income-generating Ethereum stands in stark contrast to the non-yielding, passive model of Bitcoin reserves, signaling a paradigm shift in corporate financial management towards proactive balance sheet growth.

Unlike many Bitcoin reserve companies that rely on convertible bonds and leverage (as mentioned in the recent research report by Galaxy Securities), the four leading ETH reserve companies—SharpLink, BitMine, Bit Digital, and GameSquare—have constructed their reserves entirely through equity financing. This means they do not face debt maturity pressures, coupon payment obligations, or default risks during downturns in the crypto market. The zero-leverage characteristic significantly reduces systemic vulnerability and avoids refinancing and equity dilution risks associated with deeply in-the-money convertible bonds.

The key is that these Ethereum reserve strategies introduce structural innovation: productive capital. By staking ETH, enterprises not only gain a protocol-native yield of 3%-5%, but also directly enhance the security and stability of the Ethereum network. The more ETH that enterprises reserve and actively stake, the stronger the certainty and risk resistance of the Ethereum validator set, thereby forming a long-term positive cycle between enterprise capital and protocol health.

In fact, the rise of ETH reserve companies is likely one of the key drivers behind Ethereum staking reaching an all-time high on July 9, with over 35 million ETH staked, accounting for more than 30% of the total.

Regarding GameSquare, the company plans to implement enhanced yield strategies through partnerships with entities like Dialectic, and its ETH reserves may also be allocated to lending, liquidity provision (LPing), or re-staking in native DeFi foundational protocols. This move not only has the potential to enhance returns but also strengthens the Ethereum core protocol ecosystem by deepening liquidity and institutional participation in decentralized markets.

Who has the greatest risk of equity dilution?

Investors must carefully assess how equity financing (especially PIPE transactions) may dilute existing shareholders' equity and suppress stock prices by issuing new shares to the market. BitMine's large-scale PIPE financing makes it particularly susceptible to significant short-term dilution effects and stock price volatility. The PIPE and ATM combination scheme adopted by SharpLink will cause immediate dilution and continuously create incremental pressure. In contrast, Bit Digital and GameSquare utilize a more transparent and conventional public offering method, where the dilution effect is clearer and market risk may be lower. Ultimately, companies that choose the PIPE structure face a higher initial market impact risk compared to ATM and traditional public offerings (especially evident during volatile periods), although all these equity-centric strategies avoid the characteristics of high-leverage convertible bonds in the Michael Saylor model adopted by Strategy.

6**, Conclusion**

On the surface, the sharp fluctuations in the stock prices of Ethereum reserve companies may appear similar to the speculative rise and fall cycles commonly associated with meme coins. However, there is a fundamental difference in the strategies adopted by the first batch of ETH reserve companies: these companies do not rely on market speculation or passive asset exposure, but rather intentionally position Ethereum as a productive reserve asset—earning native yield through staking or, in some cases, allocating it to more complex DeFi strategies. This distinguishes them from Bitcoin reserve pioneer companies that follow a passive "digital gold" model and often finance through high-leverage convertible bonds. In contrast, the current four ETH reserve companies (SharpLink, BitMine, Bit Digital, and GameSquare) all adopt equity financing strategies, avoiding the structural fragility risks associated with debt repayment pressure and maturity cliffs.

The key point is that this capital is not idle capital. By staking ETH, these companies directly enhance the security of network validators and the stability of the protocol layer. Taking GameSquare as an example, when it adopts DeFi-native yield strategies, the reserve capital may also support liquidity provision, lending markets, and other Ethereum infrastructure. Although risks such as dilution effects, smart contract risks, and price volatility still exist, investors can use tools like dilution impact analysis and price-to-book ratio valuation to assess downside risks and upside potential driven by returns. Ultimately, this wave of ETH reserve surge provides a new model that is more participatory and capital productive—while introducing a new category of market-oriented on-chain enterprise reserve assets, it is likely to simultaneously enhance the Ethereum ecosystem.