Sharplink, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBET) said on August 13 it will stake $200 million of ether through Lido, the largest liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, and take wrapped staked ETH, or wstETH, in return. The tokens will be held in custody at Anchorage Digital. At ether’s August 14 price near $1,873, the allocation covers roughly 107,000 ETH, about 12% of the 888,938 ETH the company reported holding as of August 3. Liquid staking is a service that locks ether with blockchain validators and issues a tradable token in return, so the deposit keeps earning rewards while the holder can still sell it or post it as collateral. For a company whose entire equity story is ether, that difference decides how much of the treasury can work twice.
Key takeaways
- Sharplink will stake $200 million of ether through Lido and receive wstETH, custodied at Anchorage Digital, per its August 13 announcement.
- The allocation equals roughly 107,000 ETH, about 12% of the 888,938 ETH Sharplink held as of August 3, 2026.
- Sharplink booked $11.2 million in second quarter staking revenue against $29,000 a year earlier, alongside a $394.3 million net loss driven by non-cash ether write-downs.
- Lido has about $16.5 billion of ether staked and its wstETH token is integrated across more than 100 protocols with roughly $10 billion in active collateral use.
Published: August 14, 2026 16:15 UTC
Why a $200 million allocation follows a $394 million quarter
Sharplink lost $394.3 million in the second quarter of 2026 while its staking business collected $11.2 million in revenue, and that split explains the Lido decision. The loss came from non-cash markdowns on ether and impairments on staked ether, not from operations. The revenue line came from putting the treasury to work.
The company launched its actively managed ether treasury strategy in June 2025. Staking revenue in the second quarter of 2025 was $29,000. One year later it was $11.2 million, and total quarterly revenue reached $11.5 million, according to the company’s second quarter results published August 10.
Under US accounting rules, companies generally mark certain crypto assets to fair value each reporting period, so a falling ether price hits the income statement whether or not any coins move. Ether opened August 14 at $1,884.42 and traded at $1,872.97 by 8:14 a.m. ET, according to Yahoo Finance. Yield is the one variable Sharplink controls.
The Lido allocation follows a $125 million onchain yield fund the company launched with Galaxy Digital on August 7. Both moves point the same direction: fewer idle coins, more positions that generate a cash return regardless of price.
What the deal signals for Lido and corporate treasuries
Lido has roughly $16.5 billion of ether staked through the protocol and holds about 23% of all staked ETH, down from a peak near 32% in late 2023 as Rocket Pool, Coinbase and other providers took share. Within the liquid staking segment specifically, Lido still runs above 60%.
The protocol has been reshaping its validator set. In a separate move, Lido consolidated $16.5 billion in staked ether to cut its validator count, a change aimed at operating costs rather than yield.
What makes the Sharplink allocation different from ordinary staking is what wstETH can do afterward. The token is integrated across more than 100 protocols with roughly $10 billion in active use as collateral, which means a treasury holding it can borrow against the position without unwinding the stake.
“This is an exciting expansion in making our ETH even more productive,” said Joseph Chalom, chief executive of Sharplink, “while maintaining institutional-grade risk standards.” Kean Gilbert, head of institutional relations at Lido Institutional, framed the shift in demand terms: “Treasuries want their ETH working for them without losing liquidity.”
Sharplink is the second-largest publicly traded ether treasury company. When a holder of that size routes capital through a liquid staking protocol rather than a custodial staking desk, it sets a reference point other listed treasuries can cite to their own boards.
The risks wstETH adds to the balance sheet
wstETH carries smart contract risk, validator slashing risk and secondary market price risk that plain custodial ether does not. Slashing is a penalty the Ethereum network applies to validators that sign conflicting or invalid blocks, and it reduces the staked balance behind the token.
Liquid staking tokens can also trade below the value of the ether backing them during periods of stress, since redemption is not instant. A treasury that borrows against wstETH at a high loan-to-value ratio can face liquidation on a price gap that never touches the underlying ether.
Recent events have made that concrete. A $292 million exploit at Kelp DAO broke the backing on a rival liquid restaking token earlier this year and forced a multi-protocol rescue. Sharplink’s decision to custody wstETH at Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank, addresses custody risk but not protocol risk.
There is a policy variable too. Ethereum developers have debated EIP-8361, a proposal that would burn staking rewards to zero. Any change to issuance would hit the yield assumption underpinning every corporate ether treasury, Sharplink’s included.
What comes next
Sharplink has not published a completion date for the deployment. The next quarterly filing will show how the wstETH position is classified and whether staking revenue keeps climbing at the current pace.
Frequently asked questions
What is wstETH?
wstETH is wrapped staked ether, a token issued by Lido that represents ether locked with validators plus the staking rewards it has accrued. Unlike its unwrapped version, the wstETH balance stays fixed while its value rises, which makes it simpler for accounting systems and lending protocols to handle.
How much of Sharplink’s treasury does the $200 million represent?
At ether prices near $1,873 on August 14, 2026, $200 million buys roughly 107,000 ETH. Sharplink reported holding 888,938 ETH as of August 3, so the Lido allocation covers about 12% of the treasury. The remainder stays in the company’s existing staking and restaking arrangements.
Why did Sharplink report a $394 million loss if staking revenue grew?
The loss was almost entirely non-cash. US accounting rules require companies to mark certain crypto holdings to fair value each period, so a decline in the ether price produces a reported loss even when no coins are sold. Staking revenue of $11.2 million reflects actual cash generated by the treasury.
