Shares of SharpLink Gaming fell slightly even as the Ethereum treasury firm pressed forward with its ambitious stock repurchase program, buying another 1 million shares.
The company, which trades under the ticker SBET, said the latest purchases were executed at an average price of $16.67 each. Despite the move, SharpLink’s stock slipped 2.8% to $16.32 by late afternoon in New York.
The buybacks are part of a $1.5 billion authorization approved in August. To date, the firm has retired nearly 1.93 million shares for about $32 million, funding the purchases with cash reserves, staking income, and other financing rather than debt.
Ethereum reserves expand
Alongside the buybacks, SharpLink continued to build its Ethereum balance sheet. The firm reported holding 838,152 ETH as of Sept. 16, up from 740,760 tokens a month earlier, with a total value of about $3.86 billion. The figure includes 3,240 ETH earned through staking since June.
The company, backed by Ethereum developer Consensys, is the second-largest corporate holder of ETH after Bitmine Immersion, which controls more than 2 million tokens.
Together, the two firms account for the majority of Ethereum kept on the books by the roughly 70 public digital asset treasury companies that own at least 100 ETH each.
Buybacks and valuation strategy
SharpLink said it will only repurchase shares when its net asset value (NAV) falls below 1 — a level it considers a signal that the stock is undervalued compared with its crypto holdings.
As of Sept. 15, SBET’s NAV stood at 0.91x, meaning the market was valuing its shares at about 9% below its ether reserves.
Buybacks have become increasingly common among digital asset treasuries, though they remain controversial. Critics say they risk prioritizing short-term price support, while SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom, a former BlackRock executive, argues the program is “immediately accretive” and strengthens long-term shareholder returns.
SharpLink shares surged earlier this year after announcing a partnership with Consensys, briefly topping $78 in June, but have since pulled back.
The company said it remains committed to aligning shareholder value with Ethereum’s growth, underscoring its strategy of using token accumulation and selective buybacks to “buy low and sell high.”