SharpLink's quarterly loss of 103 million USD impacts the market! Ethereum falls below 4,500 USD, can it hold the key support?

SharpLink Gaming announced a quarterly loss of $103 million, causing the price of Ethereum (ETH) to fall below $4,500 on Friday, leading to a sharp decline in market sentiment. This drop was accompanied by the liquidation of over $169 million in futures positions, highlighting short-term dumping pressure. However, institutional holdings and capital inflows still provide medium to long-term support for ETH, and the market is following whether it can maintain the critical support level of $4,350.

SharpLink financial report triggers ETH volatility

SharpLink disclosed in its latest financial report a quarterly net loss of $103 million, of which $87.8 million came from impairment expenses related to liquid staking ETH. According to U.S. accounting standards, the company must calculate its holdings at the lowest price per quarter, with this quarter's pricing benchmark for ETH being $2,300.

Although SharpLink clarified that it did not sell or redeem any tokens, the news still dampened market confidence, causing the stock price to fall 15% to $19.85.

Futures market clearing intensifies selling pressure

After ETH failed to break through the 4,700 USD resistance, the price quickly fell back to around 4,468 USD. CoinGlass data shows that over 169 million USD in futures positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with long positions suffering the most severe losses.

Technical indicators show that both the RSI and the stochastic oscillator have fallen from high levels, indicating a weakening short-term momentum and a shift in market sentiment to caution.

Institutional holdings and capital inflow support the fundamentals

Since SharpLink shifted to Ethereum as its core asset management in May, it has raised over $2.6 billion in accumulated tokens, currently holding more than 728,000 ETH (worth about $3.2 billion), and has earned staking rewards of 1,326 ETH.

As of now, global enterprises collectively hold over 2.7 million ETH, with BitMine Immersion leading the way with 1.2 million.

In addition, ETH-related ETFs have attracted over $5.4 billion in capital inflows in recent months, indicating institutional investors' long-term confidence in Ethereum.

Technical Analysis: Key Support and Upward Targets

ETH is currently still operating within an ascending channel, with the $4,350–$4,400 range overlapping with the 50-day moving average and EMA, forming a key support.

Bullish scenario: If it holds the support and rebounds, the price is expected to retest $4,785, and even challenge the historical high of $4,891.

Bearish scenario: If the closing price falls below $4,170, it will undermine the current bullish structure and may trigger a deep correction towards $3,950–$3,500.

Conclusion

SharpLink's financial report loss has triggered short-term fluctuations in Ethereum, but institutional holdings and capital inflows still provide medium to long-term support. In the coming days, the $4,350 support level will become the core point of contention between bulls and bears. If this range holds, ETH may be expected to restart its upward trend; on the contrary, the market needs to be wary of deeper retracement risks.