SharpLink Allocates $200 Million to Stake Ether Through Lido
Key Facts
Lido announced that SharpLink had allocated $200 million from its ether treasury for staking through its protocol, as part of efforts to generate returns from the company's digital asset holdings. Lido said the allocation came from "its ether treasury," making existing assets the basis of the transaction. SharpLink receives wrapped liquid-staked ether tokens in return, under the allocation arrangements announced by Lido. Anchorage Digital provides custody of the assets under the arrangement, which combines staking through the protocol with institutional custody. The transaction converts part of the treasury into a form that enables liquid staking, with ether remaining central to the company's digital asset strategy.
In a separate arrangement, SharpLink's agreement with Linea includes a commitment to move assets to the network and keep them there for two years, according to the company's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement specifies at least $200.0 million in ether and restaked ether tokens. Linea said the yield strategy combines Ethereum's native yield and restaking rewards with incentives provided by partners. The restaking rewards are tied to securing EigenCloud's actively validated services, according to the network's description of the strategy. Partner incentives come from Linea and Ether.fi, adding to the sources of yield targeted by the assets allocated to the arrangement.
SharpLink also announced that the Galaxy SharpLink Onchain Yield Fund had secured $125 million in commitments at launch. Those commitments include $100 million from SharpLink's staked Ethereum treasury, according to the company's announcement of the fund. Galaxy added a $25 million commitment to the funding announced at launch. The fund's commitments are thus split between assets SharpLink allocates from its treasury and a contribution from its partner Galaxy. The fund uses part of the treasury that is already staked, as the company seeks additional returns while maintaining its core exposure to Ethereum.
SharpLink and Galaxy Digital signed definitive agreements to establish the fund on August 7, 2026, according to SharpLink's regulatory filing. Galaxy manages the fund's investments, including directing capital into the targeted strategies. SharpLink said the fund targets "DeFi liquidity protocols and other onchain yield-generating strategies." That investment focus places decentralized finance liquidity among the areas in which the fund's assets are deployed. The mandate also includes other onchain yield strategies alongside investments through liquidity protocols, according to the company's description of the fund's activities.
The treasury deployment arrangements come against a backdrop of widening losses at SharpLink in the second quarter of 2026, according to its financial and operating results statement. The net loss totaled $394.3 million, compared with a loss of $103.4 million in the second quarter of 2025. The results included impairment charges on liquid-staked ether tokens and restaked ether tokens. Those charges totaled $76.1 million, according to the item reported in the company's results statement. The company thus recorded a wider quarterly loss than in the corresponding period, with the impairment of those tokens included in its financial disclosure for the period.
As part of the launch of its Ethereum treasury strategy, SharpLink closed a $425 million private placement, according to Investing.com. Consensys Software led the placement, with other investors participating, during the launch phase of the company's cryptocurrency strategy. In terms of treasury deployment tools, Anchorage Digital's integration of the wrapped liquid-staked ether token preceded SharpLink's allocation through Lido. Lido said the integration enabled institutions holding assets with Anchorage to access liquid staking through its protocol. SharpLink's arrangement benefited from the availability of this tool within institutional custody services, linking asset custody with access to liquid staking.