The NASDAQ-listed Ethereum Treasury firm SharpLink Gaming has staked another $170 million worth of Ether (ETH) on the Ethereum layer-2 network Linea. This is the second instance of a major firm staking ETH this year.
Companies continue to stake ETH
SharpLink Gaming, a Consensys-backed Ethereum Treasury firm, has staked $170 million worth of ETH on Linea. Describing the ETH deployment as a “first-of-its-kind enhanced yield,” SharpLink added that it is staked in a structure that not only earns base Ethereum staking yield but also adds staking rewards.
Besides generating base ETH staking rewards, the structure could generate an additional $10 million by earning re-staking rewards from Eigen Cloud and additional incentives from EtherFi. Notably, the firm has taken the services of institutional-grade custodian Anchorage Digital.
It should be recalled that SharpLink had previously stated that it would eventually stake $200 million worth of ETH. This is a part of the firm’s multi-year strategy to generate sustainable on-chain yields on its total Ethereum holdings.
As previously reported, SharpLink had bought ETH worth a whopping $295 million, instantly climbing to the second position among public companies with the most amount of ETH holdings. As of today, the firm holds 864,840 ETH on its balance sheet, according to data from Coingecko.
Recently, BitMine Immersion Technologies staked 19,200 ETH on the Ethereum network. BitMine is also the largest publicly traded firm in terms of the amount of ETH held on its balance sheet.
Collectively, both BitMine and SharpLink hold more than 4% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply on their balance sheets. Other companies that are among the top five Ethereum Treasury firms are The Ether Machine, Bit Digital, and Coinbase Global.
Ethereum liquid staking protocol space heats up
As ETH Treasury firms continue to stake the digital asset via different liquid staking protocols (LSP), competition among them is becoming increasingly intense. According to data from DefiLlama, Lido continues to be the undisputed leader in the space, with a total value locked at $27.6 billion.
That said, Binance Staked ETH has been eating into Lido’s dominance in the space since its launch in April 2023. Lido’s dominance has decreased from 87% in May 2023 to just 61% today, while Binance Staked ETH now holds a market share of 24%.
As more companies globally continue adding ETH to their balance sheets, expect LSPs to offer even more attractive returns on Ethereum staking. On the contrary, the market may also see some LSPs go out of business in the medium term.
