A significant whale trader known as '0x50b3' has taken a massive leveraged short position of 47,604 ETH, worth approximately $100 million, betting on Ethereum's price to fall below $2,149. According to reports from crypto.news, this whale is betting that ETH's price will not rise above $2,149.84 with 23x leverage, meaning the position will be liquidated if ETH's price increases by less than 2% from the entry point. This bearish bet comes as Ethereum continues to struggle, down 29% year-to-date and lagging behind Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.
Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, has renewed criticism of Ethereum as the cryptocurrency continues to struggle against Bitcoin. According to reports from crypto.news, Mow posted on X that he dislikes Ethereum as much as other Bitcoin maximalists, but added that he felt sorry for the network's current state. His comment came as Ethereum's market setup remains weak, with ETH trading at $2,100 at press time, down 0.19% on the day, and an intraday range between $2,066.23 and $2,124.48. The ETH/BTC ratio recently sat near 0.027, showing that Ethereum has continued to weaken against Bitcoin in relative terms.
Related market updates show that Ethereum treasury holders have faced significant pressure. According to crypto.news, BitMine's ETH holdings crossed 5,078,386 ETH on April 27, after the firm bought the tokens at an average price of $2,369 each, making the position worth about $12 billion at that time. The same report indicated that BitMine had carried an estimated $3.5 billion in unrealized losses in February 2026, while still buying ETH during the drawdown. Other public ETH treasury strategies have also faced weak accounting results, with SharpLink posting a $685.6 million net loss in Q1, driven mainly by non-cash ETH market losses and impairment charges.
The bearish sentiment is further highlighted by notable selling from industry figures, with Bankless co-founder David Hoffman selling their ETH holdings amid the current market weakness. This selling pressure from established industry participants adds to the growing investor frustration and uncertainty about Ethereum's near-term prospects. The combination of institutional treasury losses and high-profile selling is creating a challenging environment for Ethereum's price recovery, with the cryptocurrency facing multiple headwinds from both technical and fundamental factors.
