Sharplink Buys 5,000 ETH as Ether Hits 2026 Low

On-chain records show a wallet linked to Sharplink received 5,000 ETH from crypto prime broker FalconX on Thursday, a transfer valued at roughly $7.85 million at the time. The purchase is Sharplink’s first disclosed Ether acquisition in eight months and comes as Ether fell to $1,537, its lowest price in 2026.

Sharplink’s previous transfer from FalconX took place on Oct. 26, when the firm bought about $78.3 million of Ether. The company converted its business model in June 2025 to operate as an Ethereum treasury, and the latest purchase is the first outright accumulation since that change.

The company now holds about 876,285 ETH and ETH equivalents, accumulated through active purchases and staking rewards since the pivot. Sharplink was founded in 2019 as an affiliate marketing provider and later named Joe Lubin, Consensys co-founder, as chairman.

Rival firm Bitmine currently holds roughly 5.67 million ETH and added 52,203 ETH last week. Bitmine’s chairman, Tom Lee, commented that the firm is maintaining a steady pace of accumulation throughout 2026 and described the period as the early stages of a market recovery.

The purchase was recorded days before Sharplink is expected to be added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on Monday. Company executives say inclusion in those indexes typically leads many active and passive funds, including ETFs, to buy shares of newly listed companies, which can broaden the shareholder base and increase access to capital.

Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom has outlined three potential catalysts for Ether price growth: passage of the CLARITY Act in the U.S.; a return of market risk appetite tied to easing geopolitical tensions and a cooling of the artificial intelligence investment narrative; and continued growth in tokenization of real-world assets. The Senate has not yet voted on its version of the CLARITY Act, and the House Financial Services Committee plans a hearing on the bill on July 17.

Tokenized real-world assets have a distributed asset value of about $31.55 billion. Diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran aimed at a peace agreement remain ongoing.

Sharplink’s accumulation strategy combines purchases through brokerages and rewards from staking ETH. The 5,000-ETH transfer was logged amid lower Ether prices and ahead of the company’s expected index inclusion.