Author: Blue Fox Notes
Two publicly traded companies related to Ethereum (ETH) (Sharplink SBET and BitMine BMNR) will be officially included in the US Russell Index on June 29, 2026 (when the US stock market opens).
The current situation is:
- SBET (Sharplink) confirms inclusion in the Russell 2000 (small-cap index) and Russell 3000.
- BMNR (BitMine) has been included in the preliminary list and is expected to be added to the Russell 3000, with a high probability of being included in the Russell 1000 (large-cap index).
How should we understand this?
Imagine the United States has a super-large 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 stocks based on which companies are listed in the Russell index and what weight they have.
The addition of SBET and BMNR to the list this time is equivalent to:
This opens the floodgates to passive funds for SBET and BMNR, allowing millions of ordinary investors who don't trade cryptocurrencies or understand Ethereum to automatically hold them, essentially pushing Ethereum's opportunities into the mainstream of traditional finance.
Specifically,
The amount of money tracking the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 worldwide is enormous (in the trillions of dollars).
Once officially included, these funds must buy the corresponding stocks to match the index.
Previously, only investors who actively researched cryptocurrencies would buy these stocks.
Now that they're included in the index, the money of mainstream investors (including a large number of retail and institutional investors) who are "too lazy to pick stocks and only buy index funds" will automatically flow to SBET and BMNR.
This is equivalent to naturally incorporating Ethereum-related investment opportunities into the mainstream investment portfolios of traditional American finance.
Passive fund purchases create real demand, especially before and after the inclusion takes effect, which often provides short-term support for stock prices (the so-called "index inclusion effect").
In the long run, it will also improve stock liquidity and the proportion of institutional holdings (many mature companies have a passive holding ratio of over 20-25%).
It's important to note that the passive fund buys shares of SBET and BMNR, not ETH. To match the index, the fund must purchase these two stocks; it won't directly buy ETH from exchanges. However, this will indirectly encourage the company to buy more ETH.
