Written 10/13/25 edited and added to 10/19/25 (seperated below)
- Comments on China and USA trade relationships
- USA has moved toward a digital financial system While Chiona/BRICS is focused on Gold backed Fiat System.
- Digital Asset Treasuriers (DAT). LOTM is focused on multiple DATs mentioned below.
- SharpLink (SBET*) Price is attractive with excellent leadership – recent offering announced 10/16/256 above the market by 12%!
Friday’s (October 13sell-off reasoning was given to China’s imposing new trade restrictions or requirements on rare earth minerals and increased costs to dock in Chinese ports. President Trump in turn, responded by increased tariffs on China.
There are rumors from several sources saying that Xi Jinping of China suffered a stroke last week. The increase in tensions between China and America might be related to Xi’s health and a new, more business-friendly group in China rising to power post-Xi, and the pro-Xi side wanting to be more hardline toward the USA. The sources referenced have been reliable in the past. Often these sources of news flow from China have been weeks or months ahead of traditional media sources. (hint – reliable podcasters are beating traditional media soundly)
At this stage of development, we cannot with certainty confirm where this will lead in relationships between the USA and China. What we can say is that whatever develops, it has little impact on the longer-term direction of gold, silver, copper, crypto, providers of energy to include crypto miners managing the flow of stranded energy between the grid, crypto mining and AI compute. This is a new industry sector being born. We also see this sell-off as an opportunity to buy or add the above groups and to semiconductors related to AI data centers and robotics. The group is weak related to the sourcing uncertainty of Rare Earth Minerals.
We will use this “market” correction to add to DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) companies we already own. Included in this list are symbols MSTR, GLXY*, SBET*, MARA*, TAOX*, NPPTF*, FORD*, NAKA*, STKE* & DFDV. *
The DAT list is long. I am sure we will see mergers within the industry. This is a ten to fifteen-year investment growth story. Blockchain is in its very early days. Certainly, over this period there are major corrections. The companies above are focused on building positions in one or more altcoins.
Names we like in the crypto/altcoin sector include BTC, ETH, SOL, LINK and TAO. We are looking for the best opportunities in DAT companies involved in the crypto coins mentioned above.
SOL is mentioned by multiple industry Pros as having the potential for being the best performing altcoin in Q4 2025. The way TAO traded this weekend, TAO might be in the hunt for the best performing title as well. Symbols above that have high exposure to Solana (SOL) include NPPTF, FORD, GLXY, STKE &DFDV.
We have a small position in the DAT company TAO Synergies (TAOX*) $6.89. TAOX is one of the larger holders at this time of a lesser-known altcoin Bittensor (TAO) $402. We mention this as an example of the altcoin dropping from near $400 last week to near $200 on Friday and is now above $400 in weekend trading. DAO is a blockchain with a strong use case for AI payments where AI Agents perform tasks automatically. This process is evolving into a more advanced form where AI agents can autonomously plan, make decisions and complete complex goals with minimum human intervention. This is referred to as Agentic AI.
We suspect the altcoin TAO will pull back again next week, but it reinforces our thought that this “market” pull back, might be measured in days to weeks.
Rare Earth Minerals is directly mentioned to the China moves. The USA needs to develop our domestic resources (of which we have in abundance) and, more importantly, build the refineries and processing facilities to process the rare earth minerals. Processing facilities are “the” key bottleneck that is holding back the supply. This is an area for seeking investment opportunities.
The Trump administration has invested taxpayer money into Nova Minerals (NVA) $26.91 – recent contract award to source & Process antimony supply – and MP (MP Materials) $78.34. Other mineral companies USA government has taken stakes in or is considering development awards include the names – Trilogy Metals (TMQ) $6.00, Lithium Americas (LAC) $7.11, Energy Fuels (UUUU) $20.70, Critical Metals (CRML) $16.60 and USA Rare Earth (USAR) $35.70.
The more you know and understand the company you own and why you own it the less concern you will have to days like Friday.
Updated 10/19/25:
LOTM is on a roll sending out info on SharpLink (SBET), an Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) company focused on ETH. SBET is one of multiple DATs LOTM is positioning in. We (the USA) is transitioning from a debt based fiat monetary system to a Digital/Crypto based system. Stable coins will play a leading roll on how the USA refinance its debt and issues new debt.
Stablecoins based on the US Dollar, would assist the US in refinancing its debt by increasing the demand for US Treasuries, which lowers borrowing costs. This happens because stablecoin issuers must back their tokens with liquid assets, primarily short-term US Treasury bills, to maintain their value. The growth of the stablecoin market creates a new class of consistent buyers for US debt, especially important as traditional foreign buyers, like China and Japan, have reduced their holdings.
LOTM wants to own DATs that hold positions in BTC, ETH, SOL, LINK and TAO. As the USA moves to a digital/crypto based system the BRICS block of countries are staying mostly traditional and backing their vision of the future on backing their financial system with gold. This has worked well in our LOTM barbell approach to the markets. Our barbell has technology based on Crypto & Blockchain on one end woith Prtecious Metals (primarly gold and silver miners) on the other end of our barbell.
This difference is a part of WW III that we are experiencing.
SharpLink (SBET*) $14.44
Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage of SharpLink Gaming (SBET) with a Buy rating and $48 price target.
With almost $700M of daily trading volume, its partnership with Consensys, Ethereum founder Joe Lubin as chairman and Joseph Chalom as CEO with his investment background in leading Blackrock’s digital assets division, the company has the two most critical aspects to digital asset strategy success outside the performance of the underlying asset.
The research firm believes the next phase of digital transformation is beginning with the shift to digital currency and the GENIUS Act regulating stablecoins is just the first step in a changing regulatory landscape. SharpLink (SBET) has formed a strategic partnership with Consensys, a leading Ethereum software company. This collaboration centers around SharpLink’s adoption of Ethereum (ETH) as its primary treasury reserve asset and its entry into the digital asset space.
Key Details of the Partnership with Consensys (private company)
• Investment and Treasury Strategy: Consensys led a $425 million private placement in SharpLink, which is being used to build SharpLink’s ETH treasury. SharpLink aims to become one of the largest publicly traded corporate holders of ETH globally.
• Leadership Role: Following the private placement, Joseph Lubin, the founder and CEO of Consensys and a co-founder of Ethereum, became the Chairman of SharpLink’s Board of Directors.
• Strategic Advisory: Consensys is acting as a strategic advisor to SharpLink, particularly concerning its Ethereum treasury strategy and potential collaborations in areas like Consensys’s Linea, an Ethereum Layer 2 network.
What is the SWIFT System: The SWIFT system is a global messaging network used by financial institutions to send and receive secure instructions for international money transfers. It’s a cooperative society that connects over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries, but it does not handle funds itself. Instead, SWIFT transmits standardized messages that tell banks how to execute transactions, using unique SWIFT codes (also called Bank Identifier Codes or BICs) to route payments accurately.
Swift partners with Consensys to build blockchain settlement system.
Swift is teaming up with Consensys and over 30 unspecified institutions to build a blockchain based settlement system for 24/7 real-time cross-border payments.
Full Story link below https://cointelegraph.com/news/swift-taps-consensys-for-blockchain-settlement-system
LOTM NOTES: Important to know is that Joe Lubin, Chairman and largest owner of SharpLink (SBET) was a co founder of Ethereum (ETH) is also the founder CEO of Colsensys (private co). Consensys is a partner and advisor to SBET*.
Two additional Analysts issue research just released on SBET
- Benzinga – 10:02 AM EDT, 10/16/2025 B. Riley Securities Initiates Coverage On SharpLink Gaming with Buy Rating, Announces Price Target of $32.
- Benzinga – 08:46 AM EDT, 10/16/2025 JMP Securities Initiates Coverage On SharpLink Gaming with Market Outperform Rating, Announces Price Target of $50
LOTM NOTES: LOTM owns SBET is some related accounts. Though the shares of DATs are volatile, it is our view that owning Digital Treasury Assets (DAT) is a superior way to own crypto than outright ownership of the crypto asset itself. DATs are continually finding ways to increase their ownership of Bitcoins or altcoins.
SBET is accumulation units of Ethereum. Additional crypto/altcoins LOTM believes are worth accumulating are Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum, Chainlink and TAO. We are using DATs to be our vehicles of choice in this accumulation.
SharpLink Raises $76.5M at a Premium – What’s the Endgame for Its ETH Treasury?
October 16, 2025
https://cryptonews.com/news/sharplink-raises-76-5m-at-a-premium-whats-the-endgame-for-its-eth-treasury/
SharpLink Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBET), one of the world’s largest corporate holders of Ether, announced that it has raised $76.5 million through a registered direct equity offering priced at $17 per share—a 12% premium to its closing price of $15.15 on October 15.
The offering was made to an institutional investor under a securities purchase agreement covering 4.5 million shares of common stock. This marks one of the few recent equity raises in the digital asset treasury (DAT) ecosystem conducted at both a market and net asset value (NAV) premium.
Full story is linked above.
Chart SBET – 17th Oct 2025:
Information provided by TipRanks, sourced from LOTM’s eTrade account
All comments expressed in this writing are the personal views of Tom Linzmeier and is not investment advice.
Know what you own and why you own it! Time in the Market Vs Timing the Market is part of our approach to investing.
LOTM Research & Consulting Service
* An account related to LOTM holds a position in this security.
Neither LOTM nor Tom Linzmeier is a Registered Investment Advisor.
Please refer to our web site for full disclosure at www.LivingOffTheMarket.com ZTA Capital Group, Inc.
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