Wall Street Shorts ETH: Vitalik Knew and Front-Ran, Tom Lee Still Deluded
Wall Street short-selling firm Culper Research has initiated a short position on ETH and related securities, including Bitmine (BMNR). The firm argues that Ethereum’s token economic model was fundamentally broken following the Fusaka upgrade in December 2025, which increased the gas limit from 45M to 60M. Contrary to initial expectations of a 10–30% drop, gas fees fell by approximately 90%, leading to a surge in low-value on-chain activity such as address poisoning and dust attacks. These activities now account for a significant portion of transaction growth and new wallet creation, distorting metrics often cited as signs of organic adoption.
Culper alleges that Vitalik Buterin and core developers severely miscalculated Layer 1 demand elasticity using outdated models, overestimating real demand by 3–9 times. The report claims Vitalik is aware of these issues and has been selling ETH, exceeding previously announced sales targets. Meanwhile, Tom Lee of Bitmine continues to defend ETH based on misleading on-chain activity growth.
Additionally, validators are earning 40–50% less in tips per unit of gas, reducing staking yields and potentially weakening institutional interest. Ethereum is also losing developer and market share to Solana, which has attracted major institutional DeFi adoption. Culper concludes that Ethereum’s tokenomics are irreparably damaged and expects further price declines.
Odaily星球日报03/06 04:44
