Two publicly traded companies related to Ethereum (ETH) (Sharplink SBET and BitMine BMNR) will officially be included in the U.S. Russell Index on June 29, 2026 (at the opening of the U.S. stock market). Here’s the current situation: SBET (Sharplink) is confirmed to join the Russell 2000 (small-cap index) and Russell 3000. BMNR (BitMine) has entered the preliminary list and is likely to join the Russell 3000, with a significant chance of being included in the Russell 1000 (large-cap index). What does this mean? Imagine there’s a massive passive investment “auto-shopping system” in the U.S.—things like passive index funds, ETFs, pension funds, 401(k) plans, etc. These funds don’t pick stocks themselves. Instead, they strictly follow the Russell Index list: whatever companies are on the list and their respective weightings, they automatically buy accordingly. This time, SBET and BMNR being added to the list is like: Opening the “floodgates of passive capital” for SBET and BMNR, allowing millions of ordinary investors who don’t trade crypto or understand Ethereum to automatically hold these stocks. It’s essentially pushing Ethereum-related opportunities into the mainstream channels of traditional finance. Specifically, The global scale of funds tracking the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 is enormous (trillions of dollars). Once officially included, these funds must buy the corresponding stocks to match the index. Previously, only active investors who specifically researched crypto would buy these stocks. Now that they’re in the index, those “lazy investors” who don’t pick stocks and only buy index funds (including a large number of retail and institutional investors) will also have their money automatically flow into SBET and BMNR. This is like naturally embedding Ethereum-related investment opportunities into the mainstream investment portfolios of traditional U.S. finance. Passive fund buying creates real demand, especially around the time of inclusion, which often provides short-term support for stock prices (the so-called “index inclusion effect”). In the long term, it also improves stock liquidity and increases institutional ownership (for many mature companies, passive ownership can reach 20-25% or more). It’s worth noting that passive funds are buying SBET and BMNR stocks, not ETH. To match the index, funds must buy these two stocks—they won’t directly go to exchanges to buy ETH. However, this could indirectly push the companies to acquire more ETH.