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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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Crypto World

Bitcoin Drops to $74K as US-Iran Tensions Flare

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Bitcoin Drops to $74K as US-Iran Tensions Flare

Bitcoin erased its weekend gains as it fell below $74,000 on Sunday after the US military seized an Iranian cargo ship, putting pressure on a ceasefire between the two countries. 

Bitcoin (BTC) had soared above $78,300 late Friday on Coinbase, its highest price since early February, but dropped to between $75,000 and $76,000 over the weekend after Iran said it would close vital oil routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

The cryptocurrency then sank sharply late on Sunday to briefly trade below $74,000 after the US military said it opened fire on, and later seized, an Iranian cargo ship it claimed tried to run its blockade of Iranian ports, with Tehran accusing the US of violating an agreed ceasefire. 

The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, which had helped boost the markets and temper oil prices, is set to end on Wednesday.

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Bitcoin’s price in US dollars on Coinbase over the last five days has fallen over the weekend amid rising tensions between the US and Iran. Source: TradingView

Tehran has vowed to retaliate over the US military’s seizure of the ship and has rejected a new round of peace talks slated for Monday in Islamabad, Pakistan, due to the US blockade, Iranian state media reported.

Related: Bitcoin eyes $90K as whales absorb 20x daily BTC supply in 30 days

US stock futures sank Sunday night amid rising tensions, with S&P 500 futures dropping 0.8%, Nasdaq-100 futures falling 0.6% and Dow Jones futures declining 0.9%, or about 450 points.

Oil futures also soared amid the hostilities and Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, with crude oil futures rising over 4.5% to over $95 a barrel.

The Crypto Fear & Greed index rose by two points to a score of 29 out of 100 on Monday, its highest score since late January, but which still indicated a sentiment of “fear.”

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Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt