Short-selling firm Culper Research says it’s betting against Ethereum (ETH) and companies tied to it, claiming the blockchain’s economics are weakening after recent network upgrades.
In a report published March 5, Culper revealed it’s shorting ETH and related stocks, including BitMine Immersion Technologies, which holds a large stash of ether in its treasury. The firm argues that Ethereum’s fee revenue has dropped sharply, reducing rewards for validators and potentially weakening the incentives that keep the network secure. Culper even warns of a “death spiral” where lower rewards could discourage participation and hurt investor confidence.
The report also calls out Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, noting he’s sold tens of thousands of ETH this year, which Culper sees as a sign the bullish narrative may be off-track. Additionally, the firm says some rising activity on the network—like higher transaction counts—might be driven by spam or dusting transactions rather than real user growth.
Culper’s bearish stance comes during a volatile period for crypto, as Ethereum’s upgrades, layer-2 adoption, and scaling changes challenge long-term assumptions about the network’s value and economic model.
 and companies tied to it, claiming the blockchain’s economics...){kind=link}