Shares of SharpLink Gaming experienced a slight decline despite the company’s ongoing stock repurchase initiative, which saw the firm acquiring an additional 1 million shares. Trading under the ticker SBET, SharpLink purchased these shares at an average price of $16.67 each. By late afternoon, the stock had dropped 2.8% to $16.32 in New York.
This repurchase activity is part of a broader $1.5 billion buyback authorization that was approved in August. To date, SharpLink has retired nearly 1.93 million shares at a cost of approximately $32 million. Notably, the company is funding these purchases through a combination of cash reserves, staking income, and other financing methods, rather than resorting to debt.
In addition to its stock buybacks, SharpLink is also enhancing its Ethereum holdings. As of September 16, the firm announced it owned 838,152 ETH, a significant increase from 740,760 tokens reported the previous month, with a total value nearing $3.86 billion. This figure includes 3,240 ETH acquired through staking activities since June. SharpLink, which has the backing of Ethereum developer Consensys, stands as the second-largest corporate holder of Ethereum, trailing only Bitmine Immersion, which holds over 2 million tokens. Collectively, these two firms dominate the Ethereum reserves controlled by approximately 70 public digital asset treasury companies that each own at least 100 ETH.
SharpLink noted that it will only repurchase shares when its net asset value (NAV) falls below 1, which it interprets as a point of undervaluation relative to its crypto holdings. As of September 15, SBET’s NAV was recorded at 0.91x, indicating that the market is valuing its shares roughly 9% lower than the company’s reserves of Ethereum.
While share buybacks are gaining traction among digital asset treasuries, they attract some controversy. Critics often argue that such measures risk prioritizing short-term price stabilization over long-term strategy. In contrast, SharpLink’s CEO Joseph Chalom, a former BlackRock executive, defends the repurchase program as “immediately accretive,” emphasizing its potential to enhance long-term shareholder returns.
Earlier in the year, SharpLink shares saw a significant spike following the announcement of its partnership with Consensys, with prices climbing as high as $78 in June. However, the stock has since retreated from those highs. The company remains dedicated to its strategy of aligning shareholder value with Ethereum’s growth, utilizing tactics such as token accumulation and selective buybacks to capitalize on favorable market conditions.
