Ethereum is under renewed scrutiny after Calper Research released a highly critical report outlining its bearish stance on the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency. market Capitalize. The reporter argued that key aspects of the ETH ecosystem and the long-term story may be weaker than widely believed, prompting the company to reveal its short position in the asset.
Culper Research Outlines Key Risks Facing the Ethereum Ecosystem
Investment research firm Calper Research has released a critical report revealing that it has a short position in Ethereum. Coinbureau CEO Nic said: share On X, the reporter outlined that the structural changes after the ETH Fusaka upgrade have significantly expanded the block space and reduced transaction fees by nearly 90%.
According to the company, lower fees will directly lead to lower income for validators, leading to a decline in the economics of staking. Mr. Culper further mentioned bitmine And it claims that the recent increase in transaction activity and active addresses cited as bullish is being driven by spam transactions and address poisoning attacks rather than actual deployments.
The company also reported: Vitalik Buterin I sold about 19,000 ETH as if I knew what was going on. While this is a significant amount, representing about 8% of Buterin’s total holdings, it may not necessarily indicate a withdrawal or loss of credibility.
At the same time, Nick emphasized that ETH’s design allows for future rule changes to the protocol through coordinated upgrades or forks should economic issues arise. This is neither politically nor technically easy, but it is possible. Nick emphasized that he is not taking sides. However, when a company publishes a detailed paper and puts money behind it, it’s worth understanding the mechanisms it points to.
How expanding gas limits relate to lower trading fees
Cryptocurrency commentator and Office Space host MartyParty also provided Insight into the problem. Culper Research opened a short position in Ethereum, claiming that the network has entered what it calls a potential “death spiral.” The company’s paper is based on on-chain data from January 2025 to January 2025. February 2026.
The main focus of the report is the increase in wallets following the Fusaka upgrade, with Culper claiming that 95% of new wallet creations during the period were related to dusting or address poisoning attacks. The company further claims that dusting-related activity currently accounts for approximately 22.5% of all ETH transactions and more than half of the network’s recent transactions. growth.
In addition, the company is analyzing the economic impact of increasing gas limits on its network, which will contribute to an estimated 90% reduction in transaction fees and 40-50% reduction in tips per gas. On the other hand, these trends could reduce overall revenue for validators and put pressure on validator economics. network Activities.
Beyond internal network changes, competition from Solana is increasing developer and user activity. reportThe issue with Buterin’s ETH dump has sparked backlash from some in the ETH community.
Featured image from Pxfuel, chart from Tradingview.com
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