SharpLink CEO Says Ethereum Treasury Firms Prioritize Staking Over Debt Strategies
SharpLink Gaming CEO Joseph Chalom said Ethereum treasury companies are building their return models around staking yield rather than the convertible-debt leverage that MicroStrategy (MSTR) popularized for Bitcoin holdings. Chalom made the comments in an academy article published by CoinMarketCap on May 17.
The distinction matters as a growing number of public companies adopt Ethereum (ETH) as their primary treasury reserve asset.
What Chalom Said
Chalom said staking income gives Ethereum treasury firms a productive yield on their holdings that Bitcoin treasuries cannot replicate through the base asset alone. Staking is the process of locking cryptocurrency in a network’s validation system to earn periodic rewards, typically paid in the same token.
Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which replaced the original proof-of-work model in September 2022, currently pays validators an annualized yield of roughly 3% to 4% on staked ETH.
MicroStrategy, which rebranded as Strategy in 2025, financed the bulk of its Bitcoin accumulation through convertible notes and equity raises, a model that requires continuous capital market access and carries dilution risk. Chalom said that model does not translate cleanly to Ethereum treasury operations because the staking yield profile reduces the need for aggressive external financing.
Also Read: Bitmine ETH Holdings Reach 5.21 Million Tokens as Total Crypto Holdings Hit $13.4 Billion
Background
SharpLink Gaming is one of several smaller public companies that pivoted to Ethereum as a treasury reserve asset in 2025.
The broader trend mirrors the Bitcoin treasury movement that MicroStrategy catalyzed in 2020, but with different underlying mechanics. Ethereum holders can stake their tokens directly on the network, generating yield without selling the asset, a feature Bitcoin does not natively offer.
The Ethereum treasury category grew through early 2026 as ETH prices recovered from their late-2024 lows.
Several companies, including Bitmine Immersion Technologies and others, announced ETH accumulation programs modeled loosely on Strategy’s disclosure cadence but with staking yield as the stated economic rationale.
Also Read: Cardano Whale Wallets Now Control Nearly 67% of Total ADA Supply
What Comes Next
The divergence Chalom described will become more visible as Ethereum treasury firms begin reporting staking revenue in quarterly filings. The key question is whether staking yield is sufficient to justify ETH as a treasury asset when the token’s price is volatile.
If ETH remains range-bound or declines, staking income alone may not offset mark-to-market losses on treasury holdings, putting pressure on CFOs to defend the strategy to shareholders.
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