SharpLink CEO Targets $700 Trillion TradFi Market

SharpLink CEO aims to transition $700 trillion TradFi market to blockchain.

Joseph Shalom, CEO of Ethereum treasury SharpLink Gaming, has identified the ultimate goal of transitioning traditional financial structures to the blockchain. He made this statement at the Korea Blockchain Week 2025 conference, reports The Block.

According to him, the company’s focus is not on the $4 trillion crypto market, but on TradFi with a capitalization of about $700 trillion.

Shalom, who spent much of his career at BlackRock, considers the elimination of time and financial costs in traditional markets as the “greatest risk reduction” in history. To achieve this, “treasury” companies must promote protocols, stablecoins, and institutional DeFi within their ecosystems.

The discussion also featured Dan Kang, Chief Strategy Officer of Solana treasury DeFi Development Corp. He compared investments in ETFs to “sitting on a life raft,” while investments in digital treasuries (DAT) were likened to “riding a speedboat.”

Criteria for DAT Success

Shalom outlined three criteria for evaluating treasuries: average daily trading volume, quality management, and stock liquidity.

Kang identified the growth of SOL per security as a key indicator. In his view, over time, the company should provide shareholders with more of the underlying asset.

Weathering Bear Cycles

Experts believe that treasuries based on PoS networks are less susceptible to risks during market downturns.

According to Kang, the more assets DAT holds, the greater portion can be allocated to staking and other on-chain activities. This creates an organic source of income and transforms the company into a high-margin business.

Shalom added that his goal is to build an “operational firm.” It will use its ether reserves for lending, borrowing, and transaction validation, generating additional profit.

Why Wall Street Will Choose Ethereum

During the conference, Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman Tom Lee stated that Ethereum is a “truly neutral network” that will be favored by Wall Street and the White House.

He linked the platform’s future to the development of artificial intelligence and robotics. These technologies will create a need for tokenomics for robots, with most processes occurring on the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Lee also mentioned the idea of Proof-of-Human for protection against AI threats, noting that many such developments are based on the Ethereum blockchain.

According to Lee, BitMine and Strategy account for 90% of trading volume among similar firms. This indicates that institutional investors prefer to buy their shares. He added that both companies have achieved significant capitalization and will receive passive inflows as they are included in major indices.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Forecasts

Although Lee’s main focus is on Ethereum, he remains optimistic about Bitcoin. The expert expects its price to reach $200,000-250,000 by the end of the year. This will be driven by “seasonal strength” in the fourth quarter and a shift by the Fed towards a more accommodative monetary policy.

For Ethereum, the forecast is $10,000-12,000 by year-end. This estimate is based on the recovery of the ETH to BTC price ratio to previous highs with the first cryptocurrency at $250,000.

Lee added that the “real price discovery” for ether will occur in the $12,000-15,000 range, but this will not be the limit of its growth.

Back in August, the trend of creating digital treasuries sparked debates among market participants.

Later, Bloomberg journalists reported that a group of influential crypto industry veterans raised $15.4 billion in DAT companies.