US sports betting platform SharpLink Gaming has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer up to $1 billion in shares of common stock in an effort to increase the holdings of its newly launched Ether treasury.
“We intend to use substantially all of the proceeds from this offering to acquire Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain commonly referred to as “ETH,” SharpLink Gaming said in the May 30 filing.
SharpLink outlines ETH investing risks
“We also intend to use the proceeds from this offering for working capital needs, general corporate purposes, operating expenses and core affiliate marketing operations,” it said.
It comes after the firm’s May 27 announcement that it would be launching an Ethereum-based corporate treasury strategy.
SharpLink nominated Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as chairman of its board of directors.
After the announcement, SharpLink Gaming’s stock surged 400% during the May 27 trading day.
The filing outlined several risks related to the significant Ether (ETH) purchase, including the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which “could eliminate or reduce the need or demand for private-sector issued cryptocurrencies, or significantly limit their utility.”
The possibility of Ether being labeled a “security” was also listed as a risk, which the company said would require it to adhere to additional regulations.
Community dub SharpLink as Ether’s Michael Saylor
The filing led several individuals in the community to compare the betting platform to the Ethereum equivalent of Bitcoin maxi Michael Saylor, known for his aggressive Bitcoin acquisitions through his firm, Strategy.
At the time of publication, Strategy holds 580,250 Bitcoin, valued at $60.22 billion, as per Saylor Tracker.
Related: Ethereum futures data and network activity growth back ETH’s price strength
Crypto analyst 0xBoboShanti said in an X post, “Ethereum finally has its own Saylor.” Meanwhile, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano said, “You are not bullish enough.”
Ether is trading at $2,516 at the time of publication, down 4.51% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
This comes after a new filing by ETF provider REX Shares, which has led analysts to forecast that the first Ethereum and Solana staking ETFs could launch in the US within weeks.
The analysts said REX Shares used “regulatory workarounds,” to potentially get staking into ETFs, something other providers have struggled to do.
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