Sharplink adds 491 ETH in weekly rewards as staking model gains momentum

Sharplink added 491 ETH to its staking rewards this week, bringing total rewards to 18,800 ETH and reinforcing its “100% ETH, 100% staked” strategy. The company reportedly holds 868,699 ETH (≈$2.09B), or ~0.72% of circulating ETH, competing with BitMine’s 5,180,131 ETH (≈$12.48B), of which 87.9% (4,553,557 ETH) is staked. The announcement lifted Sharplink-related stock activity (SEBT pre-market +3.35% to $7.85) and comes amid ETH trading near $2,407.69 after a ~11% monthly gain. A concurrent decline in active Ethereum validators — from roughly 920k in late April to ~898k by 6 May — is noted as a potential risk if the unwind persists. Overall, increased institutional staking activity supports ETH demand, but the validator drop warrants monitoring for changing staking dynamics.