Joseph Lubin calls the SBET token "a pure scam"

Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin has publicly denounced the SBET token on X, calling it “a pure scam” and warning users not to buy or trade it. This post refers not to SharpLink Gaming’s listed stock (which also trades under the ticker SBET on Nasdaq) but to an unrelated token using the same ticker symbol in the crypto markets, which Lubin characterizes as an opportunistic attempt to exploit SharpLink’s and Ethereum’s visibility. His message is aimed at distancing both himself and the Ethereum ecosystem from any unofficial token seeking to capitalize on his name, his X handle, or SharpLink’s ticker. The context is that Lubin serves as chairman of SharpLink Gaming, a publicly traded online sports betting and gaming company that has repositioned itself as a major Ethereum treasury company, holding and staking a large ETH position and trading under the stock symbol SBET on Nasdaq. SharpLink closed a roughly $425–$450 million private placement to accumulate ETH, positioning itself as one of the largest publicly traded ether holders, and Lubin has previously discussed eventually bringing SharpLink’s equity on-chain and integrating it with DeFi and prediction markets. Against that backdrop, the emergence of a separate SBET token in crypto markets poses a risk of investor confusion between a regulated U.S. equity security and an unrelated, unregistered token, which is why Lubin’s statement stresses that the SBET token is not associated with him, with Ethereum, or with SharpLink’s regulated stock. This episode highlights a broader pattern in crypto markets, where third parties launch tokens mimicking the names, tickers, or branding of high-profile companies or individuals, creating potential for brand dilution and retail harm. It also underscores the regulatory and reputational sensitivities around tokenizing real-world assets and equities, an area Lubin has signaled interest in via SharpLink’s future plans. Lubin’s public denunciation serves both as a consumer protection warning and as a signal that any genuine on-chain representation of SharpLink equity or related instruments would need to be explicitly and formally announced by the company and its leadership, rather than inferred from ticker overlap or community speculation.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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