Three concise developments are reshaping institutional crypto this week: SharpLink Gaming plans to stake part of its $3.6 billion Ethereum treasury on the Linea network, U.S. regulators are considering around‑the‑clock crypto trading, and publicly listed Bitcoin miners pushed combined market value to a record $39 billion by pivoting into AI compute hosting.
SharpLink Gaming is preparing to move some of its ETH from custodians Anchorage and Coinbase to staking opportunities on Linea once the network reaches mainnet. Co‑CEO Joseph Chalom told Decrypt the move aims to secure “higher risk‑adjusted yield” from new Layer 2 staking options. The decision underlines how large corporate treasuries are actively optimizing yield, but it comes amid heavy demand for validator slots — the queue can exceed 16 days — and some investor skepticism: SharpLink’s shares (SBET) slipped about 4% and are down nearly 20% since the week began.
Regulatory leaders at the SEC and CFTC signaled they are weighing 24/7 markets to better align U.S. trading with the always‑on crypto ecosystem. SEC chair Paul Atkins and CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham said expanded hours could match a global, continuous market, though they cautioned it may not suit every asset class. The proposal echoes a Trump administration report urging looser limits on crypto trading and could reshape U.S. market structure if adopted.
JP Morgan analysts say a different pivot — miners offering GPU colocation and AI hosting — helped lift 13 U.S.-listed miners to a combined market cap of about $39 billion. Companies such as TeraWulf saw dramatic stock gains (TeraWulf rose roughly 83% after enlarging a deal with Fluidstack) as demand for high-performance compute from AI workloads offsets compression in Bitcoin mining margins following the halving.
Other notes: Strategy continues buying Bitcoin; U.S. Bank relaunched institutional custody; Japanese Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet approved an $884 million capital raise.
Readers should note these moves carry execution, regulatory and market risks — staking and custody changes affect liquidity and governance, and expanded trading hours would require new oversight. Source: Decrypt. Read the original coverage for full details.
