Ether The bull market plunged into a violent rally this week as cryptocurrencies tumbled, turning whale bets into a multi-million dollar horror story.
That bull is Trend Research, a trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi. The company has made $2 billion worth of bullish (long) bets on Ethereum in recent months by borrowing stablecoins from DeFi giant Aave, which are reportedly collateralized by Ethereum.
According to Arkham, the position liquidated this week, causing the company to lose $686 million.
The explosion highlights an unchanging reality in the cryptocurrency market: volatility can still make or break a trader in a week. It also shows how traders continue to chase risky leveraged loop play — borrowing stablecoins against ETH collateral — even as these bets explode dramatically on every downtrend.
how it went down
The team is convinced of Ethereum’s long-term potential and expects its October decline below $4,000 to rebound quickly.
But that never materialized—Ethereum continued to slide, jeopardizing their “ringed ether” long position. As prices fall, the stablecoin collateral backing leveraged bets shrinks, while fixed debt stands out in classic leverage fashion.
The final blow of the month came when Ethereum began to fall rapidly along with Bitcoin On February 4, the price fell to $1,750, its lowest level since April 2025. Trend Research responded by liquidating more than 300,000 ether, according to data source Bubble Maps.
Bubble Maps said on
Jack Yi described the sales as a risk control measure.
“As bulls in this round, we are still optimistic about the performance of the new bull market: ETH breaks through $10,000, and BTC breaks through $200,000. We have only made some adjustments in controlling risks, and our expectations for the future bull market have not changed.” Yi Yang Qianxi said in X’s post.
He added that now is the best time to buy coins, calling volatility the biggest characteristic of the cryptosphere. “Historically, countless longs have been dumped on this kind of volatility, but what follows is often a doubling-down rally,” he noted.
