cointelegraph.com
Hong Kong-based investment firm Trend Research has continued accumulating Ether even as one of the largest corporate $ETH holders expects a sharp drawdown during the first quarter of 2026.
Trend Research acquired $35 million in Ether ($ETH), pushing its holdings above 601,000 $ETH worth around $1.83 billion, according to blockchain data platform Lookonchain.
The company has borrowed a total of $958 million in stablecoins from decentralized lending protocol Aave and has an average purchasing price of around $3,265 per $ETH, wrote Lookonchain in a Monday X post.
Trend’s founder, Jack Yi, said he was “bullish” on crypto for the first half of 2026 and pledged to continue buying Ether “until the bull market arrives,” with “maximum position in $ETH” and a “heavy” position in the Trump family-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token.
He added that “2026 will also be an environment with comprehensive positives like financial on-chain, stablecoins, rate cut cycles, crypto policies.”
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While BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate Ether holder, relies on dollar-cost averaging, Trend Research pledged to continue acquiring Ether regardless of “fluctuations of a few hundred dollars.”
Trend Research is the third-largest Ether holder following Bitmine and SharpLink Gaming, but as an unlisted company, it doesn’t appear on most tracking websites, such as the StrategicEthReserve.
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FundStrat calls $1.8K $ETH bottom, while smart money short $ETH price
Yi’s optimistic outlook contrasts 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.
On Dec. 21, screenshots emerged of an internal research note from Fundstrat’s co-founder and managing partner, Tom Lee, who predicted a “meaningful drawdown” for the first half of the next year:
“MY 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.”
The same note suggested the market could form a “durable low” in the first or third quarter before rallying into year-end, resulting in a shallower bear market than prior cycles.
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.
Meanwhile, the industry’s most successful traders by returns, who are tracked as “smart money” traders on Nansen’s blockchain intelligence platform, also continued to bet on Ether’s short-term price decline.
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 data shows.
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