Trend Research Bets Big on Ethereum, Using Leveraged Stablecoin Strategy Amid Market Uncertainty

TheNewsCryptoPublished on 2025-12-29Last updated on 2025-12-29

Abstract

Amid current crypto market volatility, Trend Research, a private investment firm, is aggressively accumulating Ethereum using a leveraged stablecoin strategy. On-chain data reveals the firm has borrowed $958 million in USDT from Aave to purchase ETH, raising its holdings to 601,074 ETH valued at $1.83 billion. Despite bearish technical indicators like a MACD sell signal and ETH's 7-day decline of 0.77%, the firm continues buying at an average price of $3,265, becoming the third-largest institutional ETH holder. Founder Jack Yi confirmed the strategy, stating they will maintain maximum positions until the anticipated 2026 bull market. This leveraged approach highlights Ethereum's dual role as both a financial asset and technology protocol, though its broader market impact remains uncertain.

In the current crypto market volatility, a significant move is unfolding in institutional corridors. Trend Research, a private investment firm, is making major moves by buying Ethereum continuously. On-chain data depicts that Trend Research continuously borrows stablecoins, a total of $958 million in stablecoins, which is $USDT to buy ETH. As it currently holds 601,074 $ETH, totalling $1.83 billion in value.

Strategic Accumulation Amid Uncertainty

As Ethereum is currently hovering at $3,015.13, which is up about 2. 75%, as its 24-hour trading volume has risen 137.36%, However, on 7D chart, ETH remains down 0.77%, according to CoinMarketCap data at the time of writing.

When analysing using indicator, MACD(Moving Average Convergence Divergence), the MACD line crosses below the signal line, which is a bearish sign, potentially a sell signal.

Despite the current bearish market mood, the Trend Research firm has been aggressively purchasing ETH from Binance at an average price of around $3,265, placing it as the third-largest institutional ETH holder behind BitMine and SharpLink Gaming.

As the Blockchain data from Arkham reveals a continuous pattern of financial movements, USDT borrowed from Aave is transferred to Trend Research wallets before being routed to Binance, where it is used to buy Ethereum.

This means they are using borrowed funds, or leverage, to invest in Ethereum, something many traditional investors avoid because of concerns about limited market liquidity, but this shows Ethereum’s dual role as both a financial asset and a technology protocol.

Further, the founder of Trend Research, Jack Yi, posted a tweet on his X handle stating that they are not worried about fluctuations and they will keep buying Ethereum with maximum position until the bull market arrives in 2026.

With that, On-chain metrics show Trend Research continues to follow its accumulation strategy, boosting its ETH position despite uncertain market conditions. It is uncertain whether this technique will serve as a catalyst for a broader market turnaround or as a standalone institutional investment.

Highlighted Crypto News Today:

‌Mirae Asset in Talks to Acquire Korbit for Up to $100M, Signaling Institutional Shift in South Korea’s Crypto Market

Trending Cryptos

CitreaCTR

wrapped stUSDTWSTUSDT

Velodrome FinanceVELODROME

BrevisBREV

ZRX（0X）ZRX

The Verdict in Choi Tae-won's Divorce Case: Revealing the Inheritance Undercurrent Behind SK Hynix's Trillion-Won Empire

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's high-profile divorce case, involving a record 1.38 trillion won settlement, has drawn attention to the succession plans for Korea's second-largest conglomerate, especially its crown jewel, SK hynix. Unlike traditional chaebol scripts centered on the eldest son, Chey's three children from his marriage to former President Roh Tae-woo's daughter, Roh Soh-yeong, are carving distinct, non-traditional paths. Eldest daughter Chey Yun-jung (b. 1989) is seen as the most evident successor. With a scientific and consulting background, she holds executive roles at SK bioscience and SK Inc.'s growth support department, focusing on future strategy and biopharma. Her marriage is to an AI infrastructure entrepreneur, not a traditional business alliance. Second daughter Chey Min-jung (b. 1991) took a unique route, voluntarily serving as a South Korean naval officer, including an anti-piracy deployment. She later worked on policy and strategy for SK hynix in Washington D.C. before co-founding an AI-driven healthcare startup. She married a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, connecting her to U.S. defense and policy circles—networks crucial for a global semiconductor giant. The only son, Chey In-geun (b. 1995), who studied physics like his father, worked briefly at SK E&S before joining McKinsey. Despite fitting the traditional "heir" profile as the eldest son, he remains silent and holds no public position or shares in SK, suggesting the old succession playbook is obsolete. As SK hynix's valuation soars, becoming a geopolitical asset in the AI era, the heirs' legitimacy is no longer automatic. They must prove themselves in fields like AI biotech, global policy, and strategic consulting. Their marriages also reflect new elite networks in tech and defense, not old political alliances. Their inheritance is the complex challenge of navigating a globalized, tech-driven world, not just a corporate throne.

marsbitYesterday 09:06

The Verdict in Choi Tae-won's Divorce Case: Revealing the Inheritance Undercurrent Behind SK Hynix's Trillion-Won Empire

marsbitYesterday 09:06

Banks oppose stablecoin yield deal – Can CLARITY Act find 60 votes?

The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) has opposed the latest draft of the CLARITY Act, criticizing its provisions on stablecoin yield and illicit finance. The banking industry sought a total ban on stablecoin yield, but the bill's compromise only prohibits passive yield on idle balances. This opposition has influenced lawmakers, reducing tentative Republican Senate support to potentially 49 votes. With the 60-vote threshold needed, securing sufficient Democratic support appears difficult as some pro-crypto Democrats also oppose the bill due to ethics and illicit finance concerns. Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed doubt the bill can pass before the August recess. Market odds for the bill's passage in 2026 have fallen, leaving its future uncertain.

ambcryptoYesterday 09:02

Banks oppose stablecoin yield deal – Can CLARITY Act find 60 votes?

ambcryptoYesterday 09:02

2 Months, Valuation Soars from $8.8B to $68B! The Largest AI Model Hub OpenRouter May Be Acquired

Stripe is reportedly in talks to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for a price nearing $10 billion, a dramatic increase from its $1.3 billion valuation just two months prior. The deal, which could be announced within a month, would see the payment giant absorb a key "router" or aggregation layer in the AI infrastructure stack. OpenRouter provides developers with a single API to access over 400 large language models (LLMs), automatically routing queries to the most suitable model based on cost, capability, and speed. This allows AI applications to optimize expenses while maintaining user experience. Founded in 2023 by ex-OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah and Louis Vichy, OpenRouter has grown rapidly, reaching $50 million in annualized revenue by April and serving over one million developers. For Stripe, the acquisition of OpenRouter follows its late-2025 purchase of usage-based billing platform Metronome. The combined strategy aims to create an integrated suite for the AI economy: OpenRouter would handle model selection and routing, Metronome would manage granular usage-based billing, and Stripe's core platform would process payments. This positions Stripe to control a critical part of the AI application value chain, influencing which models get used while simplifying cost management for enterprise customers.

链捕手Yesterday 08:59

2 Months, Valuation Soars from $8.8B to $68B! The Largest AI Model Hub OpenRouter May Be Acquired

链捕手Yesterday 08:59

From OpenSea to OpenRouter: Is Alex Atallah Repeating His 'Exit at the Peak' Playbook?

From OpenSea to OpenRouter: Is Alex Atallah Repeating His "Exit at the Peak" Playbook? According to the Wall Street Journal, payments giant Stripe is in talks to acquire the AI model aggregation platform OpenRouter in a potential deal valuing the company near $100 billion. This would mark founder Alex Atallah's second creation of a company reaching a $100 billion valuation, following his co-founding of NFT marketplace OpenSea. OpenRouter, founded just over three years ago, has grown rapidly by acting as a unified gateway for developers to access over 400 AI models. It currently has about 10 million users and processes over 200 trillion tokens monthly. While the platform's annualized revenue is around $50 million, its valuation has skyrocketed from $1.3 billion in March 2026. The potential acquisition by Stripe, a company OpenRouter's founder once likened it to, represents a major expansion into AI infrastructure for the payments leader. This move echoes Atallah's previous timing with OpenSea, where he departed before the NFT market's significant downturn. For OpenRouter, selling now may be strategic. Despite its scale, its business model—charging a 5-5.5% fee on AI inference calls—faces pressure from competition, open-source models, and potential price wars among model providers, limiting its profitability narrative for an IPO. A key asset for potential acquirers like Stripe is OpenRouter's vast repository of real-world AI usage data, which offers unique insights into model performance and developer preferences that are difficult to replicate. Whether this potential deal signifies a new valuation benchmark for AI infrastructure or another market peak signal remains to be seen.

链捕手Yesterday 08:42

Pons V2 brings RWA trading pairs as Robinhood Chain broadens its ambitions

Pons, a key launchpad on Robinhood Chain, has launched its V2 upgrade. The update aims to boost liquidity, remove trading restrictions for most users via an ETH-denominated bonding curve, and introduces support for custom tokenized real-world asset (RWA) trading pairs. This aligns with Robinhood Chain's broader RWA focus. The upgrade also allows creators to collect fees in ETH by default. The network itself is growing rapidly, surpassing $300 million in Total Value Locked. Its cumulative DEX volume has exceeded $9 billion, with about 80% coming from speculative memecoin trading. However, data shows 63% of traders are at a loss, with profits concentrated in a small number of wallets. The introduction of RWAs could help drive more organic adoption for the chain, which is positioning itself as a major player for speculative trading, challenging networks like Base and Solana.

ambcryptoYesterday 08:26

Trading

Spot

Hot Articles

In-Depth Research Report on Account Abstraction (AA): Generational Leap in Ethereum’s Account System & Landscape Reshaping in the Next Five Years

As a major evolution of Ethereum’s account system, AA is designed to address the fundamental security and experience bottlenecks of the “private key equals account” model in the EOA era.

5.1k Total ViewsPublished 2025.12.18Updated 2025.12.18

In-Depth Research Report on Account Abstraction (AA): Generational Leap in Ethereum’s Account System & Landscape Reshaping in the Next Five Years

Hot Tokens Learning Week 14: Glamsterdam Set to Be Ethereum's Most Closely Watched Upgrade in 2026

Ordinals/Runes continue to drive block fee revenue and developer activity, and are seen as the starting point for Bitcoin's "native asset issuance".

27.6k Total ViewsPublished 2026.04.29Updated 2026.04.29

Hot Tokens Learning Week 14: Glamsterdam Set to Be Ethereum's Most Closely Watched Upgrade in 2026

Hot Tokens Learning Week 15: Ethereum Glamsterdam Public Testnet Launching Soon

Ethereum Glamsterdam’s current Devnet-4 has completed multiple EIP tests and is transitioning to Devnet-5; the public testnets (Holesky/Sepolia) are about to be launched.

26.3k Total ViewsPublished 2026.05.21Updated 2026.05.21

Hot Tokens Learning Week 15: Ethereum Glamsterdam Public Testnet Launching Soon

Discussions

Welcome to the HTX Community. Here, you can stay informed about the latest platform developments and gain access to professional market insights. Users' opinions on the price of ETH (ETH) are presented below.