BlackRock’s Crypto Chief Joins SharpLink Gaming, Ethereum’s Second-Largest Treasury Company
By Tim Craig – July 25, 2025
In a significant move within the crypto industry, Joseph Chalom, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, has stepped down from his longtime role at the Wall Street powerhouse to become the co-CEO of SharpLink Gaming — Ethereum’s second-largest treasury company.
Leadership Transition at SharpLink Gaming
SharpLink Gaming, a Minneapolis-based online casino company that has recently pivoted towards an Ethereum treasury strategy, announced Chalom’s appointment Friday. Rob Phythian, the current CEO of SharpLink, will transition to president over the coming quarter while remaining on the company’s Board of Directors.
The departure of Chalom from BlackRock marks a major shift as he led the firm’s crypto initiatives, including the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and oversaw the management of a $2.4 billion Ethereum-based tokenised fund.
“Ethereum is the Future of Global Finance”
In an announcement on the social media platform X, Chalom emphasized his conviction: “Ethereum is becoming the foundation of global finance. That’s where the future is being built.” This comes amidst a resurgence of interest in Ethereum by institutional investors, who have pushed roughly $3.3 billion into Ethereum ETFs in the last two weeks—a record inflow since regulatory approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year.
Ethereum treasury companies, including SharpLink, have collectively acquired approximately $5.3 billion worth of Ethereum tokens, adding them to their corporate treasuries in a manner reminiscent of Michael Saylor’s well-known Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
The Institutional Push into Ethereum
SharpLink’s treasury holdings have grown substantially. The company currently holds over 360,000 Ethereum tokens, valued at around $1.34 billion, yielding an estimated unrealized profit of $354 million. This aggressive accumulation strategy is fueled by the belief that Ethereum will serve as the foundational network for issuing and transferring stablecoins and tokenised assets in the coming years.
Ethereum’s largest institutional treasury holder remains Bitmine Immersion Technologies—a converted Bitcoin mining firm chaired by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee.
Chalom’s Two Decades at BlackRock and Industry Impact
Joseph Chalom brings two decades of experience at BlackRock, having served in multiple senior roles culminating in directing the firm’s digital assets strategy. He was instrumental in forging key crypto partnerships with Coinbase, Anchorage Digital Bank, BNY Mellon, and Circle. He also served on the board of Securitize, a tokenization firm acting as the transfer agent for BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL.
SharpLink’s Recent Financial Developments
SharpLink’s Ethereum treasury strategy gained additional capital from a $425 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding round completed on June 2, alongside an extra $64 million from at-the-market sales. Following the PIPE, SharpLink’s shares (ticker: SBET) initially plunged about 75% after investors in the PIPE failed to secure rights to sell their shares immediately. However, the stock has partially recovered in tandem with Ethereum’s 52% price rise over the past month. As of today, SharpLink shares were down by 4.5%.
Notably, while SharpLink started as an online casino firm, it is chaired by Joe Lubin, one of Ethereum’s co-founders and the CEO of ConsenSys, a leading blockchain software company.
Joseph Chalom’s move to SharpLink Gaming signals growing institutional confidence in Ethereum as a vital pillar of the crypto ecosystem’s future. The move also underscores increasing demand for Ethereum treasury plays as professional investors seek to capitalize on the network’s expanding role in decentralized finance and tokenization.
Contact Tim Craig, DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi correspondent, with tips at [email protected]
Related Topics: Ethereum, BlackRock, Digital Assets, Institutional Investment, DeFi
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