As institutional adoption of digital assets matures, a new business model is emerging: treating ether not just as an investment, but as productive financial infrastructure.
This change comes in a context of strong downward market volatility. SharpLink Gaming (SBET) — which saw its stock soar last May after adopting an ether $ETH$1,925.44 treasury strategy – has since taken a nosedive (along with every other hastily created digital asset treasury company in 2025). It’s a reminder of the turmoil that continues to define the asset class.
In a panel discussion at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 with Joe Lubin, Chairman of Sharplink, and Joseph Chalom, CEO, the two leaders discussed how DATs are evolving into a distinct institutional strategy.
“I have never seen this much of a moment of differentiation where the real macroeconomic winds for Ethereum have never been better in its 10 and a half year history,” Chalom said, highlighting the growth of stablecoins and tokenization. “Listen to Larry Fink in Davos, when he tells you that $14 trillion of BlackRock assets will be tokenized, and over 65% of that is happening on Ethereum to date.”
Although recent ether price action and ETF flows have raised concerns, Chalom framed them as part of broader macroeconomic risk reduction. “Bitcoin and ether have been very easy to de-risk,” he said, adding that rotations out of liquid assets are typical during volatile times. “The biggest players in institutional finance are telling us out loud: they are launching into the ether.”
SharpLink’s strategy differs, he argued, because it deploys permanent capital. “An ETF is a great passive exposure vehicle, but it has to provide daily liquidity… We hold permanent capital,” he said. “The third step – which is actually the most important – is to ensure that your $ETH “productive.”
Lubin highlighted the distinguishing characteristic of ether: efficiency.
“Ether would be a much better asset… because it’s a productive asset. It pays. It has a risk-free rate,” he said, referring to returns of around 3%. SharpLink has put almost all of its holdings on the line and plans to continue accumulating them. “We will continue to buy ether. We will continue to bet on ether and add new returns to ether.”
Beyond staking, Chalom described what he called “good institutional DeFi,” using long-term locked-in capital to achieve risk-adjusted returns rather than chasing venture capital-style upside. “We are not looking for 10x VC convex results – we are looking for the best risk-adjusted return for our investors. And we actually believe that by doing so, we will improve the DeFi ecosystem by raising its standards.”
For Lubin, this change resembles the beginnings of the Internet era. “A long time ago… there were Internet companies. Today, every company is an Internet company. Soon, every company will be a blockchain company,” he said, predicting that companies will hold more and more tokens on their balance sheets and need sophisticated on-chain treasury tools.
Read more: Ethereum treasury firm SharpLink stakes $170 million $ETH on the Linea network
