Investment bank Citizens has initiated research coverage of SharpLink Gaming, assigning a Market Overweight rating with a $50 per share target — implying more than 200% upside from current levels, according to CoinDesk, citing the bank’s report.
SharpLink’s shares rose 2% to $15.45 in morning trading but later eased to $14.57 at the time of writing, data from Yahoo! Finance shows.
Citizens’ analysts based their bullish forecast on the expected long-term growth of Ethereum (ETH). The bank projects ETH will exceed $7,000 by 2026 and could surpass $20,000 by 2030, supporting SharpLink’s expanding Ethereum-focused strategy.
Why Analysts Are Bullish on SharpLink
SharpLink has quickly emerged as one of the most ambitious Ethereum treasury operators in the public market. After building a sizable position in ETH, the company began allocating assets toward staking and on-chain income strategies to steadily grow its net asset value (NAV) over time.
Unlike traditional companies that simply hold cryptocurrencies, SharpLink actively manages its Ethereum balance sheet, according to analysts led by Devin Ryan.
“SharpLink is not a passive Bitcoin or Ethereum custodian,” the report stated. “The company issues shares at a premium to NAV or repurchases them when prices are lower, using ETH reserves to generate on-chain returns.”
Citizens described SharpLink’s model as a “flywheel mechanism” that could lift NAV per share as Ethereum’s ecosystem expands and institutional adoption accelerates.
Strong Leadership and Institutional Confidence
Citizens also praised SharpLink’s leadership, highlighting its mix of crypto-native innovation and traditional finance discipline. The company is chaired by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin and co-led by former BlackRock executive Joseph Chalom, combining deep blockchain expertise with institutional experience.
The analysts wrote that SharpLink’s leadership is “ideally positioned to scale the Ethereum treasury model, merging the flexibility of crypto with the rigor of capital markets.”
To strengthen its balance sheet, SharpLink raised $76.5 million in a direct offering priced at a premium to market value. Citizens said the move reinforces institutional confidence in SharpLink’s governance model and Ethereum-driven strategy.
With its hybrid of on-chain leverage and off-chain discipline, SharpLink could emerge as a top-performing equity proxy for Ethereum’s growth — offering traditional investors a new way to gain exposure to blockchain-based assets.
