Hong Kong-based investment firm Trend Research has continued accumulating Ether even as one of the biggest corporate ETH holders expects a sharp drawdown during the first quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n
Trend Research<\/a> acquired $35 million in Ether (ETH<\/a>), pushing its holdings above 601,000 ETH worth about $1.83 billion, according<\/a> to blockchain data platform Lookonchain.<\/p>\n The company has borrowed a total of $958 million in stablecoins from decentralized lending protocol Aave, with an average purchase price of about $3,265 per ETH, wrote Lookonchain in a Monday X post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trend\u2019s founder, Jack Yi, said<\/a> he was \u201cbullish\u201d on crypto for the first half of 2026 and pledged to continue buying Ether \u201cuntil the bull market arrives,\u201d with \u201cmaximum position in ETH\u201d and a \u201cheavy\u201d position in the Trump family-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token.<\/p>\n He added that \u201c2026 will also be an environment with comprehensive positives like financial on-chain, stablecoins, rate cut cycles, crypto policies.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin crawls to $88K as Aave faces governance drama: Finance Redefined<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n While BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate Ether holder, relies on dollar-cost averaging, Trend Research pledged to continue acquiring Ether regardless of \u201cfluctuations of a few hundred dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n Trend Research is the third-largest Ether holder following Bitmine and SharpLink Gaming, but as an unlisted company, it doesn\u2019t appear on most tracking websites, including the StrategicEthReserve<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Crypto speculation at 2024 lows as TradFi leveraged ETFs hit record $239B<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Yi\u2019s optimistic outlook contrasts<\/a> with the insights shared by Fundstrat Global Advisors, who predicted that Ether will sink to a local bottom of around $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n On Dec. 21, screenshots emerged of an internal research note from Fundstrat\u2019s co-founder and managing partner, Tom Lee, who predicted a \u201cmeaningful drawdown\u201d for the first half of the next year:<\/p>\n \u201cMY base case is a meaningful drawdown in 1H 2026, with BTC falling to $60k – $65K, ETH to $1,800 – $2,000, and SOL to $50-$75. These levels would present attractive opportunities into year-end.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The same note suggested the market could form a \u201cdurable low\u201d in the first or third quarter before rallying into year-end, resulting in a shallower bear market than prior cycles.<\/p>\n The bearish prediction came as a surprise to investors, considering Lee is also the chairman of Bitmine, the largest corporate Ether holder with around $12.3 billion in ETH holdings.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the industry\u2019s most successful traders by returns, who are tracked as \u201csmart money\u201d traders on Nansen\u2019s blockchain intelligence platform, also continued to bet on Ether\u2019s short-term price decline.<\/p>\n Smart money was net short on Ether for a cumulative $117 million, but added $15 million worth of long positions during the past 24 hours, signaling a minor recovery in risk appetite from this key cohort, Nansen <\/a>data shows.<\/p>\nFundStrat calls $1.8K ETH bottom, while smart money short ETH price<\/h2>\n
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