Hong Kong Firm Loses $680M as Leveraged Ethereum Position Collapses

A Hong Kong-based trading firm's massive leveraged Ethereum position has collapsed after Ethereum crashed to $1,750, forcing Trend Research to liquidate over 400,000 ether and leaving the firm with an estimated $680 million loss.

The company, led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, had built one of crypto's largest private Ethereum positions by borrowing stablecoins from AAVE against ETH collateral. The strategy worked during rallies but reversed violently when ETH fell 30% in one week.

Trend Research deposited $700 million worth of ether over five days as liquidation thresholds approached between $1,698 and $1,830. According to blockchain analytics firm Bubble Maps, the company moved 411,075 ETH to Binance since early February to repay Aave debt.

Yi characterized the massive selloff as risk management rather than capitulation, maintaining bullish targets of $10,000 for ether and $200,000 for Bitcoin. He argued that volatility historically shakes out bulls before rebounds.