Crypto millionaire loses $43 million in Ether-Bitcoin trading bet.
Crypto millionaire James Fickell has lost more than $43 million since January 10, as his debt on decentralized lending platform Ave rose to $132 million.
Fickell, an early Ethereum investor and founder of the long-running research firm Amaranth Foundation, lost more than $43.7 million betting on the price of Ether (ETH) versus Bitcoin (BTC).
Based on the millionaire's 2024 investments, Fickell posted on Lookonchain on September 14 X that on January 10 he first borrowed $172 million in wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and the price of Ether is expected to increase over Bitcoin.
“From January 10 to July 1 #Aave borrowed 3,061 $WBTC(172M) and exchanged it for 56,445 $ETH at 0.05424. From August 7, he spent $12M USD to buy 211 $WBTC and exchanged 16,000 $ETH for 671 $WBTC($39.9M) at $0.042 Changed to pay the debt on #Aave.
Source: Lookonchain
Since early 2024, Ether has underperformed Bitcoin. According to data from Binance, Ether's price is down more than 24% year-to-date (YTD) versus Bitcoin, and down more than 9% in the past month.
ETH/BTC, year-to-date chart. Source: TradingView
Related: USDC Issuing Circle Announces Move to New York HK Ahead of IPO
Fickell owes $123 million to Ave.
According to DeBank data, the amount of fickle debt on decentralized lending platform Aave reached more than $132 million worth of WBTC as of September 14.
His growing debt stems from his earlier belief that Ether is superior to Bitcoin. He effectively took a short position on Bitcoin by borrowing Bitcoin to buy Ether. However, this strategy resulted in losses when the price of Ether fell against Bitcoin.
James Fickel Aave loan. Source: Debank
Fickel is widely known for pouring $400,000 into Ether when it was only $0.80.
Related: Bitcoin ‘stress level' threatens more September losses, but there is a silver lining
Ether ETFs continue to bleed as Greyscale's ETHE surpasses $2.7b mark.
Continued outflows from US Ether Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are contributing to Ether's sluggish price action.
ETH ETFs have recorded negative net inflows of $581 million since they began trading on July 23. Greyscale's ETF accounts for the majority, accounting for more than $2.7 billion in net outflows, according to Farside Investors data.
Ethereum ETF flow (USD, million). Source: Farside Investors
Investors expected a huge price increase from the launch of the Ether ETF. ETFs accounted for about 75% of new investment in the cryptocurrency on February 15, with a $50,000-plus surge.
Magazine: Proposed Change Could Save Ethereum From L2's ‘Roadmap to Hell'
