Ethereum Whale Opens $100M Short, Unfazed by Buterin's Vow to 'Sell Less ETH'
A whale opened a $100M Ether short near $2,095 as ETH rebounded toward its liquidation level. Vitalik Buterin also said the Ethereum Foundation will sell less ETH.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
A large trader is betting hard against Ether with a leveraged short that is close to liquidation. At the same time, Vitalik Buterin says the Ethereum Foundation will reduce ETH sales, even as ETF outflows and investor exits keep pressure on sentiment.
A big trader made a very large bet that Ether will fall in price. That bet is now getting close to the point where it could be automatically closed if Ether rises a little more.
At the same time, Ethereum’s co-founder said the group behind Ethereum will sell less of its coins. That is like a store saying it will stop selling off as much of its own stock to make people feel calmer.
The story matters because prices are not just about one coin going up or down. They also depend on what big traders, big funds, and the people running the project are doing.
Analysis
Whale short under pressure
A crypto whale opened a leveraged Ether short worth more than $100 million, according to Hypurrscan data cited in the article. The wallet, identified as 0x50b..., held a 47,600 ETH short position valued at about $100.72 million, with an entry price near $2,094.92 and leverage of roughly 23x. With ETH trading around $2,115, the position was already showing an unrealized loss of just under $994,000.
The position’s liquidation level sat close to $2,150. That leaves very little room for ETH to rise before the trade is forced out, and a modest move higher could push the loss beyond $1 million. The article notes that the market backdrop was improving a bit because of signs of easing US-Iran tensions, which helped ETH rebound from a weekend low near $2,000.
Buterin tries to calm concerns
At the same time, Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will “sell less ETH” as part of a broader push to make the organization leaner and more durable. He framed the change as a move toward “longevity over breadth,” meaning the foundation would narrow its focus and reduce spending rather than act like Ethereum’s central command structure.
That reassurance comes after criticism of foundation token sales. The article says the Ethereum Foundation sold about 20,000 ETH in 2026, raising more than $45 million, while still holding around 103,000 ETH in liquid treasury assets and another 70,000 ETH staked.
Broader sentiment remains weak
The story also points to softer institutional demand. It says Harvard Management Company reportedly exited an $87 million Ethereum ETF position, Goldman Sachs cut its ETH ETF holdings by about 70%, and spot ETH ETFs saw more than $295 million in net outflows in May and over $945 million in withdrawals in 2026 so far. Even so, some analysts still argue Ethereum’s on-chain economy remains difficult for rivals to match, citing its DeFi liquidity, stablecoin supply, and tokenized assets.
Key points
- A whale opened a 47,600 ETH short worth about $100.72 million.
- The short was near its liquidation level around $2,150 and already showed nearly $1 million in losses.
- Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will sell less ETH and become leaner.
- The article cites ongoing ETF outflows and weaker institutional ETH exposure.
- Ethereum still has a large on-chain economy, which some analysts say supports long-term value.
