Trend Research Exits with $750 Million Loss—Has Ethereum Hit Its Bottom?
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Trend Research Exits with $750 Million Loss—Has Ethereum Hit Its Bottom?
Some analysts have dubbed Trend Research’s liquidation of its entire position “the largest-scale surrender signal.”
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Kamina Bashir
Translated by Chopper, Foresight News
Trend Research, an investment firm led by Jack Yi, founder of LD Capital, has liquidated its entire Ethereum (ETH) position, reportedly incurring losses of nearly $750 million.
This large-scale sell-off occurred amid a sustained decline in Ethereum’s price, which has fallen over 30% in the past month. Its underperformance has reignited market debate over whether ETH has reached its bottom.
Trend Research Sells Off ETH Amid Market Volatility
As previously reported by BeInCrypto, Trend Research began transferring ETH to Binance earlier this month. On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain confirmed that the firm completed the sale yesterday.
Trend Research transferred a total of 651,757 ETH (worth approximately $1.34 billion) to Binance at an average selling price of $2,055. Following the transaction, its ETH holdings were reduced to just 0.0344 ETH—valued at roughly $72.
Data from Arkham Intelligence also corroborates its near-total liquidation, showing only about $10,000 in USDC and small amounts of other tokens remaining in the account.
Lookonchain stated: “Total losses amount to approximately $747 million.”
The liquidation stemmed from a leveraged strategy built on the DeFi lending protocol Aave. Analysts explained that Trend Research initially purchased ETH on centralized exchanges and deposited it as collateral on Aave.
It then borrowed stablecoins against this collateral and repeatedly used the borrowed funds to purchase additional ETH—creating a cyclical leveraged position that significantly amplified both exposure and liquidation risk.
As ETH’s price continued falling, the position approached its liquidation threshold. To avoid forced liquidation, Trend Research opted to proactively close its entire position.
In stark contrast to Trend Research’s sell-off, BitMine adopted the opposite strategy: despite mounting paper losses, it continued accumulating ETH, recently purchasing $42 million worth of the asset.
What Does ETH’s Bottom Mean for BitMine and Trend Research?
These diametrically opposed strategies emerged amid heightened volatility in the Ethereum market. According to BeInCrypto Markets data, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has declined 32.4% over the past month.
On February 5, ETH briefly fell below $2,000 before staging a modest rebound. At press time, ETH is trading at $2,094.16—a 0.98% increase over the past 24 hours.
During this downturn, some analysts believe ETH may be nearing a market bottom. One analyst labeled Trend Research’s liquidation as a “maximum capitulation signal.”
Axel commented: “Forced exits like this often occur near major lows.”
Joao Wedson, founder of Alphactal, also noted that ETH’s bottom typically forms several months ahead of Bitcoin’s, due to faster liquidity cycles among altcoins.
Wedson suggested that Q2 2026 could represent ETH’s potential bottom.
“Some charts already indicate that Q2 2026 could be ETH’s potential price bottom. Capitulation-driven selling has already occurred, and realized losses are set to surge dramatically,” Wedson added.
Although a bottom remains unconfirmed, the possibility could broadly influence institutional sentiment—some institutions are de-risking, while others continue accumulating amid market weakness.
If ETH truly is approaching its bottom, BitMine’s persistent accumulation could prove to be a precisely timed bottom-fishing move, positioning it to benefit from a future rebound.
Conversely, if downward pressure persists, Trend Research’s decision to fully liquidate may ultimately be viewed as a prudent measure to avoid risks inherent in leveraged strategies.
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