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Short seller Culper Research says ether tokenomics is ‘impaired’

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Short seller Culper Research says ether tokenomics is 'impaired'

Short seller Culper Research is betting against ether (ETH) and ETH-linked stocks such as BitMine (BMNR), arguing that the network’s economics deteriorated following Ethereum’s latest network upgrade.

The firm said in a Thursday report that the December 2025 upgrade dubbed Fusaka flooded the network with excess blockspace and has “impaired ETH tokenomics.” That drove transaction fees sharply lower. Because validators earn part of their income from those fees, the drop has reduced staking yields.

That dynamic could create a negative feedback loop, the report said, where declining validator yields reduce staking demand and network security.

The report also highlighted that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold nearly 20,000 ETH, worth around $40 million at current prices, this year, citing data from blockchain sleuth Lookonchain.

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“Vitalik is selling, while bulls like Tom Lee are clueless as to ETH’s new reality,” the report said. “We’re with Vitalik.”

The report pushes back on bullish claims from Lee, chairman of Ethereum-centric treasury firm BitMine, who has pointed to rising transaction counts and active addresses as evidence of stronger network fundamentals.

Culper said those metrics are misleading. Its analysis claimed a significant share of the activity surge stems from address poisoning attacks, a scam tactic where attackers send small transactions to trick users into copying malicious wallet addresses. Culper estimated Ethereum fees have dropped roughly 90% since the upgrade.

“By Lee’s own logic, if utility is NOT going up, then ETH is in a death spiral,” the report said. “This is exactly what we believe is happening.”

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The short thesis also targeted BitMine (BMNR), one of the largest corporate buyers of ether.

Since July, the company has accumulated roughly 4.4 million ETH as part of its treasury strategy. With ether prices down significantly from recent highs, those holdings are estimated to be 45% underwater, with BitMine sitting on roughly $7.4 billion in unrealized losses, DropsTab data shows.

BitMine did not return a request for comment by press time.

Read more: Vitalik Buterin reveals his bold new plan to fix Ethereum’s scaling problem

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Hyperliquid price eyes $35 as Bollinger Bands tighten

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Hyperliquid price outlook: Bulls eye $35 as Bollinger Bands tighten  - 1

Hyperliquid price is approaching a key resistance level, and shrinking volatility suggests a possible breakout toward $35.

Summary

  • HYPE trades near $31 after slipping 5.7% in 24 hours but remains up 80% over the past year.
  • Bollinger Bands are tightening, signaling a volatility squeeze that often precedes a major move.
  • A breakout above $34 could push price toward $35, while losing $29 may expose the $26 support zone.

At press time, Hyperliquid (HYPE) was trading at $31.24, down 5.7% in the past 24 hours. Over the last week, it moved between $26.22 and $33.33, ending roughly 7% higher. However, the token has decreased by roughly 10% per month.

HYPE continues to be one of the better-performing altcoins despite the recent decline. Over the past year, the token has increased by about 80%, despite difficulties in the larger cryptocurrency market.

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Derivatives activity has cooled slightly. CoinGlass data shows that trading volume dropped 18% to about $1.25 billion, while open interest fell 7.5% to $1.21 billion, showing some traders closing their positions.

HYPE token fundamentals

HYPE’s price is influenced by several structural factors.  The core of Hyperliquid’s ecosystem is perpetual futures trading, and the Assistance Fund for token buybacks receives about 97% of platform fees.

Increases in trading are directly correlated with increases in buybacks. For example, when trading volumes averaged $29 billion daily, $5.82 million in buybacks were generated, demonstrating a direct correlation between trading demand and token support.

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Market sentiment has also been influenced by protocol upgrades. Permissionless perpetual markets were introduced by HIP-3, which produced a total volume of about $83 billion. 

HIP-4 proposal aims to launch outcome trading products, combining prediction markets, options, and binary-style contracts. These additions could expand platform activity if more retail or institutional traders participate.

Hyperliquid price technical analysis

HYPE appears to be entering a compressed volatility phase. Bollinger Bands have tightened on the daily chart, which is frequently an indication of an impending big move.

The upper band, which has caused pullbacks in recent sessions, is being tested by the price.

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Hyperliquid price outlook: Bulls eye $35 as Bollinger Bands tighten  - 1
Hyperliquid daily chart. Credit: crypto.news

The structure of the market has improved. HYPE has formed a string of higher lows around $26 and $29 since late January, indicating that buyers are intervening earlier on dips. This outlook is also supported by momentum indicators. 

There is potential for more gains as the relative strength index is in the mid-50s and trending upward. Meanwhile, the mid-Bollinger Band has been offering dynamic support around $29.

A move toward $35 could ensue if HYPE breaks above $33–$34, with a possible extension to $38 if buying pressure increases. Deeper losses could retest the $26 base, and rejection at resistance could push the token back toward $29 on the downside.

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Trump Son Echoes President’s Anti-Bank Message amid Stablecoin Yield Fight

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Banks, Donald Trump, Stablecoin, Companies

The post from Eric Trump, tagging his crypto company, came hours after his father claimed banks were holding a market structure bill “hostage.”

Eric Trump, son of US President Donald Trump and one of the co-founders of the family-backed crypto business World Liberty Financial, has jumped on the anti-bank messaging that many in the industry are espousing amid disagreements over how to handle stablecoin rewards.

In a Wednesday X post, Eric Trump echoed his father, claiming that banks were “desperately targeting” cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as discussions lag on the market structure bill in the US Senate. The post came hours after the president posted a similar message claiming that banks were holding the legislation “hostage.”

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Banks, Donald Trump, Stablecoin, Companies
Source: Eric Trump on X

The issue of stablecoin yield has been dividing many US lawmakers, banking industry representatives, and crypto companies, stymieing the market structure legislation. Eric Trump and many in the crypto industry oppose a ban on stablecoin yield, arguing it would “block any rewards or perks from being given to customers,” while some banking organizations have argued such rewards could undermine credit and lead to deposit flight risk.

Related: Trump met Coinbase CEO before slamming banks over crypto bill: Report

A company representative, in response to questions about Eric Trump’s post, said that the company was “not a political organization” and he “has been clear about why he helped create World Liberty Financial.”

Senate banking panel has yet to reschedule market structure bill markup

Eric Trump’s message was one of the latest public statements from a leading industry figure after three meetings between White House officials and banking and crypto representatives on how to address stablecoin yield in the market structure bill. The legislation, called the CLARITY Act when it passed the House of Representatives in July, has been delayed by a 43-day government shutdown and debates among lawmakers on ethics, tokenized equities and stablecoins.

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Although the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in January, the banking panel postponed a markup and had yet to reschedule it as of Thursday. Both versions will likely need to pass the two committees and be consolidated before the full Senate can potentially vote on the bill.

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