Sharplink to move into ETH treasury stock via a monster $429m raise.
In +More: BetMGM secures Missouri access via Century deal.
Making the weather: Kalshi’s Mansour at Bitcoin 2025.
Tit for tat forever: More allegations fly as Penn attacks HG Vora, again.
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Out of the Ether
Ethereum delirium: Previously gaming-sector focused affiliate Sharplink Gaming has announced a $429m private placement in order to pursue an Ethereum treasury strategy in conjunction with a cabal of well-known crypto investment firms and led by blockchain provider Consensys.
The move into crypto treasury will also see Joseph Lubin, founder and CEO of Consensys and co-founder of Ethereum, become the new chair of Sharplink.
PIPE-line: The new private investment in public equity injection will see just over 69 million shares issued to the new investors which alongside Consensys include ParaFi Capital, Electric Capital, Pantera Capital, Arrington Capital, Hivemind Capital, and Republic Digital among others.
The shares have been issued at a price of $6.15, compared to the share price at the end of last week of $6.72.
The shares shot up to a value of over $35 or a 400%+ leap with the company worth $25m.
ETH, meanwhile, surged 5.5% on the news yesterday to $2,680.
Hello Saylor: Sharplink is following the path previously trodden by the Michael Saylor-led Bitcoin treasury Strategy, previously called MicroStrategy. Sharplink said yesterday it intends to use the cash raised to acquire ETH, the cryptocurrency for the Ethereum blockchain.
Rob Pythian, founder and CEO of Sharplink, said the move was a “significant milestone” for his company and marked an “expansion beyond” the company’s core business of affiliate marketing.
This remains a somewhat sub-scale business which generated a mere $3.66m in 2024.
Sitting comfortably: Yesterday’s monster share price move was prefigured by a leap on Friday when the stock surged over 7) on the day. This followed an announcement last Tuesday that the company had successfully raised $4.5m via a separate public offering.
Sharplink previously announced a move into the cryptocasino space via the $500k purchase of 10% of UK-based operator Armchair Enterprises which runs the cryptocasino.com site.
Sharplink also has the right of first refusal to acquire the remaining 90%.
🍊The news of Sharplink’s pivot came on the same day as Trump Media and Technology confirmed it would be selling $2.5bn in shares and convertible notes in order toe facilitate the purchase Bitcoin.
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+More
BetMGM has secured access to the Missouri sports-betting market via a deal with Century Casinos. Century owns two properties in the state at Cape Girardeau and Caruthersville. Under the terms of the agreement, Century will receive an undisclosed percentage of NGR with a guaranteed minimum.
Meddlesome: Evoke has announced the creation of a board technology committee chaired by non-exec director Susan Standiford and tasked with providing oversight of the company’s “major technology investments and initiatives.” Evoke holds its AGM later today.
Sega Sammy has completed the $108m acquisition of GAN which was originally announced in November 2023.
High Roller Technologies says it has submitted its application for a license in Ontario and it is targeting the launch of its eponymous brand in the province in H225.
Happy ending: Playtech has announced the sale of its German-facing Happybet business to NetX Betting, a subsidiary of the Frankfurt-listed German operator, Pferdewetten, dependent on regulatory approvals and negotiations with the franchise holders. No sum was disclosed.
No more links: Flutter Entertainment-owned Betfair is reported to have halted its affiliate partnerships in the UK with the company blaming regulatory complexity in the UK and Ireland. The company told SBC News that it is moving to a centralized affiliate platform within Flutter UK and Ireland. The global affiliate program will continue.
Earnings in brief: Gaming affiliate Acroud said Q1 revenue rose 3% to €9.8m but adj. EBITDA collapsed to just €447k, down 64% YoY. The company blamed the disruption to a regulated market in Brazil for the drop in profits. The company said it had stabilized its financial position via a restructure and the issuing of SEK65m in super senior bonds.
The whether forecast
Bold prediction: Tarek Mansour, the ever voluble CEO at Kalshi, said he thinks prediction markets can “rival the stock market one day” but added that he was surprised at the lack of interest in economic-based markets.
Speaking at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas yesterday, Mansour suggested that “having a stake in simple questions about the future is more natural and intuitive for most people than company financials.”
“This is one of those things where in 10 years we will think it was weird that these things didn't exist,” he added.
Whether ot not, here I come: Asked about sports predictions, Mansour said they had been "pretty explosive” but refused to add much more, other than to say that “didn’t know yet” about expanding into parlays.
He also suggested that as it stands, punters were keener on betting on weather-related markets than economic-based ones, saying he wished the latter were “more liquid” and that “for some reason they are not.”
“People just don't care enough, versus something like the weather,” he added. “People love to trade the weather, I don't know whether that is useful or not.”
Tit for tat for tit for tat
Return of serve: The cycle of charge and counter-charge between Penn Entertainment and HG Vora continues as the former set about attempting to rebut a 116-page investor presentation which it claims was “full of false claims and mischaracterizations.”
In another letter to shareholders, Penn says HG Vora has “consistently disregarded the gaming regulatory regime in its pursuit to exercise control and influence” without all the necessary licenses.
Rather than operate within the well-established gaming regulatory framework, HG Vora has “chosen to test boundaries and blame-shift.”
Above the fold: Answering the activist investors' claims against mis-management and that the board and top team at Penn have enriched themselves at the company’s expense, Penn accused HG Vora of the “same disregard” for facts.
It said the points made about excessive pay and excessive use of corporate jets were about generating "attention-grabbing headlines.”
“However, HG Vora’s claims are simply not based on the facts readily available in our public disclosure,” it added.
Blunder and lightning: Recall, last week HG Vora accused current CEO Jay Snowden and chair David Handler of “strategic blunders” and urged shareholders to ignore Penn’s attempts to limit the vote at the AGM to two board seats vs. the originally planned three seats.
Penn has already accepted the nominations of Johnny Hartnett and Carlos Ruisanchez but baulked at a third nominee, Bill Clifford.
We all have choices: Penn batted back HG Vora’s charge that it was going down the wrong road with online, arguing that not having a digital strategy was “no longer an option.”
Specifically with ESPN Bet, it said it has “optionality” including levers it could pull to “optimize performance into 2026 and realize value.”
Note, the three-year break for Penn’s relationship with ESPN owner Disney occurs next year.
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Puts & takes
Busy, busy, busy: Returning from a road trip, Citizens said that “anecdotally,” Las Vegas was busy with solid mid-week foot traffic with MGM management reporting that May was looking “solid.”
Consistent with prior commentary at the time of the Q1 earnings that April had been a record month, the analysts reported that the high end was outperforming the lower end properties.
“The macro is having no impact on the business at this point, but we gather that any deterioration of the lower end could be viewed as the first sign of overall consumer weakness,” the team added.
Similarly, Citizens met with the management team at Caesars Entertainment who said nothing was a”cause for concern” with its own Strip properties.
Still, with tough hold comps for H2, the company said its ability to increase same-store EBITDAR will be dependent on the luck factor with its table games offering.
Boyd and FanDuel
Time to renew: Citizens also met with Boyd Gaming where they raised the topic of the renewal of its comprehensive market access deal with Flutter which saw it take a 5% stake in FanDuel alongside a revenue share due in 2028.
The team reported Boyd management to be “coy as to the direction it would take” but maintained they were “happy with the ongoing structure.”
Citizens said they estimated the stake was now worth ~$1.7bn, noting that the current deal drives a “significant portion” of Boyd’s online EBITDAR via the skin revenue which the team estimates was ~$60m in 2024.
With skin agreements now less valuable that when the deal was originally made in 2018, Citizens suggest FanDuel/Flutter could renegotiate with a “lower payment scheme in mind.”
This implied a portion of Boyd’s EBITDAR “could be at risk in the coming years.” they added.
Venture playground
In focus – Mobile Streams
Who are you? Mobile Streams is a 15-year-old media and entertainment company that delivers games globally and that, under the stewardship of Mark Epstein is now focus don the Americas and Mexico and Argentina in particular.
What is the big idea? Epstein says the company’s goal is to become the leading sports and media brand in Latin America. Last July the company secured funding to invest in Media Capital Sport in order to utilize the brand to launch its Estadio Gana gaming platform.
“With the upcoming World Cup next year, we recognize the incredible opportunity this presents and we are doubling down on our mission to bring together leading media brands and produce compelling content,” he says.
“Mexican audiences are extremely passionate about sports and hungry for the latest news and content, from the World Cup to Formula 1, and we’re extremely excited to tap into this demand.
Funding backgrounder Mobile Streams has secured total investments of around £3.5m including a $496k raise from a group of private investors in Mexico at a valuation of £2.5m.
Growth company news
Sporty Group has acquired Brazilian channel Nosso Futebol, which holds agreements with pay-tv operators including Sky and Claro TV. Sporty will inherit broadcasting over 400 live matches per year and will also further expand its SportyBet platform in the newly regulated Brazil market.
XST Capital has appointed Jesse Wachtel as senior advisor to bolster support for its digital gaming clients. With more than 15 years of experience as an operator and investor across startups, B2B software, and the digital iGaming landscape, Wachtel brings deep sector expertise and strategic insight to XST’s growing client base.
Venture capital firm Yolo Investments manages in excess of €500m in capital across 100 exciting fintech, gaming and blockchain companies. The Yolo Investments' Gaming fund, regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, has taken positions in fast-growth suppliers and operators, including Dabble and Enteractive. Yolo Investments (yolo.io) wants to hear from readers of this newsletter. Get in touch with your pitch, or for a chat about innovative products which can plug into our investment ecosystem.
Upcoming earnings
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Jun 24: FDJ United investor day
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