SharpLink Gaming, a major Ethereum treasury company, is planning to stake part of its massive $3.6 billion ETH holdings on the Linea network once it officially launches on mainnet. Until now, most of SharpLink’s Ethereum has been staked through trusted custodians like Anchorage and Coinbase. But the company is now looking for ways to earn higher returns.

According to SharpLink’s co-CEO Joseph Chalom, the company wants to explore new staking opportunities that offer better, risk-adjusted yields. Linea, an Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by Consensys, could provide just that. Chalom emphasized how important this move could be, not just for SharpLink, but also for the broader Linea ecosystem.

Ethereum staking continues to draw massive interest. Right now, there’s a backlog of over 16 days just to become an Ethereum validator, showing how much demand there is. In fact, an early Ethereum investor — often called an ICO whale — just moved $645 million worth of ETH into a staking wallet earlier today. That same wallet still holds over $1.1 billion in ETH.

However, SharpLink’s new staking strategy hasn’t helped its stock price. Shares of SBET are down 4% today and have dropped nearly 20% since the beginning of the week. Investors may be reacting cautiously to the company’s shift in strategy.

Meanwhile, U.S. regulators are starting to think about modernizing financial markets to keep up with crypto. The SEC and CFTC said they’re considering allowing 24/7 trading to match the nonstop nature of the digital assets market. While they see potential in always-on trading, they also warned that it might not suit every type of asset.

Interestingly, this push for around-the-clock trading lines up with recommendations made during the Trump administration, which suggested loosening crypto trading rules in a July report. This shows how even old policies can continue shaping the future of finance.

In another corner of the crypto world, publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies are hitting new highs thanks to artificial intelligence. These miners have found a fresh revenue stream by renting out their high-powered computer systems to AI firms that need massive computing power.

According to analysts at JP Morgan, the total market value of these mining companies reached $39 billion last month — a new record. Companies like Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, Hut 8, Iris Energy, and TeraWulf have all benefited from this AI pivot. TeraWulf, for example, saw its stock jump 83% after expanding a hosting deal with AI infrastructure firm Fluidstack.

Even though Bitcoin’s recent halving and rising mining difficulty have made mining less profitable, miners who planned ahead for this AI boom are seeing those plans pay off. Their success shows how diversification and smart strategy are becoming essential in the crypto mining industry.