Will ETH See Fund Inflows Again? Sharplink and BitMine Make It onto the Russell Index List

Author: Lanhu Notes

Two publicly listed companies related to Ethereum (ETH)—Sharplink (SBET) and BitMine (BMNR)—will officially be added to the U.S. Russell Indexes at the market open on June 29, 2026.

The current situation is:

• SBET (Sharplink) is confirmed to join the Russell 2000 (small-cap index) and the Russell 3000.
• BMNR (BitMine) is on the preliminary list and is expected to join the Russell 3000, with a high probability of also entering the Russell 1000 (large-cap index).

How to understand this?

Imagine the U.S. has a massive passive investment "automatic shopping system"—such as passive index funds, ETFs, pension funds, 401k plans, etc.

They don't pick stocks themselves; instead, they automatically buy exactly which companies and in what proportions are listed in the Russell Indexes.

SBET and BMNR being added to these lists is equivalent to:

Opening the "floodgates of passive capital" for SBET and BMNR, allowing millions of ordinary investors who don't trade cryptocurrencies or understand Ethereum to automatically hold them. This effectively pushes Ethereum opportunities into the mainstream channels of traditional finance.

Specifically,

The amount of capital tracking the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 globally is enormous (on the scale of trillions of dollars).

Once officially included, these funds must purchase the corresponding stocks to match the index.

Previously, only investors actively researching crypto would buy these stocks.

Now, after entering the index, the money from mainstream investors (including a large number of retail and institutional investors) who "don't bother picking stocks and only buy index funds" will also automatically flow into SBET and BMNR.

This naturally integrates Ethereum-related investment opportunities into mainstream U.S. traditional financial portfolios.

The buying by passive funds creates real demand, especially around the inclusion生效 date, often providing short-term support for the stock price (the so-called "index inclusion effect").

In the long term, it also enhances stock liquidity and institutional ownership (for many established companies, passive ownership can reach 20-25% or more).

It's important to note that passive funds are buying SBET and BMNR stocks, not ETH. To match the index, funds must buy these two stocks; they won't go directly to an exchange to buy ETH. However, this will indirectly encourage the companies to buy more ETH.