Recent from twenty years at BlackRock, Joseph Chalom has stepped out of retirement to guide SharpLink Gaming Inc., a Nasdaq-listed firm that has drawn comparisons to MicroStrategy for its aggressive Ethereum treasury technique.
In an unique interview with CryptoNews, Chalom outlines why he left conventional finance, what SharpLink is attempting to realize with ETH, and why he sees Ethereum as the muse for the way forward for tokenization and decentralized finance.
From BlackRock to SharpLink
Chalom spent 20 years at BlackRock, the place his profession spanned each conventional finance and digital belongings. He factors to 2 accomplishments that outlined his tenure: scaling Aladdin, BlackRock’s enterprise danger administration system utilized by most of the world’s largest asset managers, and later main the agency’s digital asset workforce.
That latter function centered on bridging conventional traders with crypto markets, getting ready establishments for the shift he believes is inevitable.
After retiring from BlackRock in June 2025, Chalom was pulled again into the business following a dialog with co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys, Joseph Lubin, who now serves as chairman of SharpLink’s board.
“We each have a imaginative and prescient of a world the place extra environment friendly programs enable the alternate of worth in a basically completely different method than exists right this moment,” Chalom stated, pointing to Ethereum’s means to settle transactions trustlessly and immediately.
On Being Known as the ‘MicroStrategy of Ethereum’
The comparability to Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, which famously gathered billions of {dollars} in Bitcoin, has adopted SharpLink because it started deploying its capital into ETH. Chalom acknowledges the parallel whereas stressing the variations between Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“Michael Saylor has demonstrated that over a multi-year interval, you’ll be able to have a public firm that buys a crypto asset and that firm can commerce at a premium in worth,” he stated.
“We try to do a really comparable factor with Ethereum, which is be a public treasury, increase capital from traders, purchase Ethereum, and permit traders to take part in three issues: capital appreciation, staking yield, and supporting the ecosystem,” Chalom stated.
Not like Bitcoin, he added, Ethereum is a productive asset. Staking ETH can generate yield that’s thought-about income, giving SharpLink an extra earnings stream.
“We tip our hat to Michael Saylor in demonstrating {that a} crypto technique in a treasury can work,” Chalom stated. “We simply assume Ethereum is a extra best treasury asset.”
Ethereum, Tokenization, and the Lengthy-Time period Alternative
Chalom frames SharpLink’s mission round what he calls the “long-term Ethereum alternative,” which he breaks down into three classes: stablecoins, tokenized real-world belongings, and broader monetary and non-financial functions.
Stablecoins, the vast majority of that are issued on Ethereum or its Layer 2 networks, have grown right into a $275 billion market. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has urged that it might rise to a number of trillion within the coming years.
Tokenization of conventional belongings is the second leg of the thesis. From tokenized treasuries to equities and funds, Chalom sees programmable, immediately settling belongings as a structural shift away from legacy programs that take days to settle.
“When belongings or securities or funds are held in tokenized format, they’re programmable, tradable, typically 24/7, and most significantly, they settle immediately,” he stated.
Lastly, as extra real-world exercise is represented in tokenized kind on Ethereum, demand for ETH because the community’s native asset ought to rise. Chalom factors to a framework: Traditionally, each $2 of high-quality belongings secured on Ethereum interprets into roughly a $1 improve in ETH’s market cap.
“We’re accumulating as a lot ether as attainable proper now on the present costs, as a result of we see vital appreciation in its worth,” he stated.
On June 2nd, we’ve raised $2.6B in capital and acquired greater than 700k ETH
Our Co-CEO @joechalom on latest achievements throughout Q2 Earnings Name pic.twitter.com/w9BqJcQWqI— SharpLink (SBET) (@SharpLinkGaming) August 28, 2025
Competitors and Differentiation
SharpLink just isn’t alone in pursuing an Ethereum-focused treasury technique. Rival BitMine has introduced plans for a large $24.5 billion increase to construct its personal ETH battle chest, an indication of how company ether accumulation is accelerating. With ETH hovering close to file highs, establishments are concentrating on a bigger share of the availability.
Chalom welcomes the competitors. “If others have the identical funding thesis, it means a few of the finest minds are validating this thesis, and we really welcome that.”
Nonetheless, he argues that SharpLink is uniquely positioned. The agency has constructed a workforce of institutional-grade traders and strategists and maintains a strategic partnership with ConsenSys, the Ethereum improvement firm based by Lubin.
“That partnership provides us alternatives to take part in DeFi, seize probably the most professional staking yields, and doubtlessly construct Ethereum-denominated working corporations,” he stated. “That may be a true differentiator.”
Regulation and Institutional Entry
Chalom is optimistic concerning the regulatory surroundings within the U.S., pointing to 2 developments: the GENIUS Act, which clarifies possession and participation in crypto, and the pending CLARITY Act, which lays out market construction.
Traditionally, establishments confronted challenges round custody and mandates. However with ETFs now accessible and a public firm wrapper by way of SharpLink’s Nasdaq itemizing, entry is increasing.
“Proudly owning ETH by SharpLink is rather like proudly owning an fairness,” Chalom stated. “That’s the first unlock. The second unlock is regulatory readability. The headwinds have been launched, and we’re on the level the place there’s a well-defined institutional path to proudly owning Ethereum.”
Trying Again: The First ETF Launch
Chalom additionally displays on his time at BlackRock in the course of the approval of the primary Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded merchandise in 2024, which he describes as “a seminal second within the adoption of crypto by conventional establishments.”
These launches introduced over $100 billion of conventional capital into Bitcoin and Ethereum, he notes, and set the stage for corporations like SharpLink to strengthen the bridge between conventional markets and digital belongings.
“I nonetheless assume it’s early within the funding alternative in Ethereum,” Chalom provides, evaluating the present second to the early days of the web. “Essentially the most transformation is forward of us.”
As SharpLink leans into its Ethereum-centric technique, the comparisons to MicroStrategy could persist. However Chalom insists the corporate’s method is greater than a commerce—it’s about constructing a long-term platform round a productive, revenue-generating, and programmable community asset.
Whether or not SharpLink finally turns into generally known as the “MicroStrategy of Ethereum” or one thing else, the corporate’s strikes will stay intently watched by each Wall Road and the crypto group.
Worth Motion
SharpLink Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: SBET) has delivered a substantial rally in 2025, with shares up 128% year-to-date at $18.46 regardless of a unstable buying and selling vary.
The inventory surged to a 52-week excessive of $124.12 earlier this yr on the again of its aggressive Ethereum treasury technique, earlier than retracing as markets absorbed the dimensions of its purchases. Nonetheless, with a market cap of $3.22 billion, SharpLink stays one of the intently watched public corporations, tying its fortunes on to ETH.
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