Sharplink, a publicly traded firm holding Ethereum, will be added to the Russell 2000 and 3000 indexes on June 29, according to an announcement made Tuesday. The inclusion is part of the indexes’ semiannual restructuring.
Peer Inclusion
Sharplink’s inclusion follows that of BitMine Immersion Technologies, another Ethereum treasury firm, which will be added to the Russell 1000 index, tracking the top 1,000 U.S. companies by market capitalization.
“Joining the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 is a meaningful validation of Sharplink’s institutional-grade ETH treasury strategy and we believe will broaden SBET’s shareholder base while strengthening our access to capital markets,” said Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink, in a statement.
Sharplink currently holds 874,351 ETH, valued at approximately $1.8 billion. According to Yahoo Finance data, the firm was trading at a discount to its Ethereum holdings, with a market capitalization of around $1.22 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday.
Forward Industries Joins
Forward Industries, a Solana-focused crypto treasury firm, will also be included in the Russell 2000 and 3000 indexes, the company announced.
The medical design firm, which has become a significant holder of Solana, purchased $1.58 billion worth of SOL last year at an average price of about $232 per SOL. However, SOL is now trading at $83.78, a 64% decrease since the firm’s purchase.
Consequently, Forward Industries’ Solana holdings are now valued at approximately $588 million, significantly exceeding its current market capitalization of $350 million. Based on this valuation, the firm is approximately 2.4 times larger than the smallest market capitalization member of the Russell 2000, according to the index fund’s website.
Index Impact
The inclusion of these firms in the Russell Indexes places them within a group of U.S. indexes with over $12.2 trillion in benchmarks or investments.
“We believe index inclusion will expand our shareholder base, improve trading liquidity, and increase visibility among long-term institutional investors,” said Ryan Navi, CEO of Forward Industries, in a statement.
Shares of the firms reacted differently to the news. Sharplink (SBET) shares dipped about 0.8% on Tuesday, closing at $6.18 per share. Meanwhile, Forward (FWDI) shares rose 2.62%, trading around $4.70 at the close of trading.
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