Please treat Jack Yi kindly.

Author: Gu Yu, ChainCatcher

With the sharp drop in BTC and ETH prices in recent days, the positions of Jack Yi, founder of Trend Research and Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital), have attracted the attention of many cryptocurrency investors. His leveraged 650,000 ETH position is in grave danger under the current market conditions, on the verge of liquidation.

For this staunch ETH bull, a rare on-chain trader with transparent credentials, and a representative of the Asian crypto institutional community, this situation is truly cruel and lamentable.

After all, concepts like "transparency," "bullish sentiment," and "research-driven" align with mainstream crypto values, and Yi Lihua's "battle" is, to some extent, a "battle for legitimacy" for the crypto industry. So, how did all this happen? Why did Yi Lihua go from successfully escaping the market peak to being trapped in a bottom-fishing attempt? And what lessons can we learn from this? From Buying at the Bottom to Selling at the Top

From Buying at the Bottom to Selling at the Top

Yi Lihua is an early OG in the Chinese crypto community. Since 2015, he has invested in hundreds of blockchain projects, including early investments in EOS, Qtum, VeChain, etc. After 2017, through LD Capital, he invested in well-known projects such as Near, CertiK, MEXC, Sentient, etc.

LD Capital's Selected Investment Cases Source:RootData

Since the beginning of 2025, Yi Lihua's focus has shifted from the primary crypto market to the secondary market. In April 2025, the price of ETH fell to a 22-year low, reaching a low of $1,385. Yi Lihua's bottom-fishing began quietly at this time. In late April, Trend Research publicly released a research report bullish on ETH when it rose to $1800, stating, "Given the current trend, further gains in the Crypto market are imminent." In late May of 2025, Trend Research... The frequent large-scale on-chain purchases were discovered and disclosed by on-chain analyst Yu Jin, and Yi Lihua subsequently claimed these addresses on X. At this time, ETH had risen to $2,600, and Trend Research's on-chain addresses held a total of 133,000 ETH, with a total value of $360 million. However, it should be noted that Trend Research's operations were not entirely cash purchases; a large portion of the ETH purchases were borrowed from Aave by staking previously purchased ETH, meaning they were leveraged several times. In June 2025, Trend Research published another article titled "Why We Are Bullish on ETH Before the Surge," stating that their underlying logic for remaining bullish on ETH was: the Trump administration's commitment to establishing a stablecoin system… and Ethereum is the most important infrastructure for stablecoins and on-chain finance. The influx of stablecoins and the continued development of RWA will bring further prosperity to DeFi, driving up Ethereum consumption, increasing GAS revenue, and boosting its market capitalization. At this time, the price of ETH was around $2,800. Yi Lihua also publicly stated that he believed the long-term price of ETH could break through $5,000, and in an optimistic scenario, the price of BTC would rise to over $300,000 in this cycle, with ETH potentially reaching $10,000. Meanwhile, Yi Lihua stated that he had purchased 100,000 ETH options. In July 2025, Yi Lihua tweeted that the market had fully entered a long-term bull market, and the traditional four-year cycle might no longer exist. He claimed that stablecoins and blockchain were the best opportunities for the US to globalize its dollar, allowing investors to invest in crypto stocks while earning interest on stablecoins, ensuring a continuous influx of new users and funds. Subsequently, Yi Lihua added to his holdings almost monthly until early October when he began warning of market risks and quickly transferred most of his ETH holdings to the Binance exchange for sale. At that time, the price was around $4,700, narrowly avoiding the October 11th crash. He later stated that his research data indicated an impending market decline. Through this round of precise bottom-fishing (starting to build positions around $1800 in the first half of the year) and profit-taking at the high point, Yi Lihua achieved a significant doubling of profits, consolidating his influence as a top trend investor in the Chinese-speaking community. After the market was reshuffled following the 1011 incident, Yi Lihua saw another opportunity to build positions. In early November, Yi Lihua tweeted that ETH had begun to rebound, remaining optimistic about the subsequent market trend and advocating for a bottom-fishing strategy. He then stated that $3,000-$3,300 was the bottom-fishing range for ETH spot trading. As ETH continued to correct, Yi Lihua, following a buy-the-dip strategy, stated that he had already gone all-in on ETH at $2,700, and subsequently continued to add to his position through leveraged borrowing during the decline, reaching over 650,000 ETH by January of this year, with an reported average cost of $3,180. "When ETH fell to around $1000, we saw through the main players' intention to shake out the Ethereum OG bulls and successfully bought at the bottom. When ETH rose to over $4500, we saw through the market's rise to the top of the consolidation phase and successfully liquidated our positions. Trend Research's successful bottom-fishing and top-selling performance in 2025 proves that we will not change our investment strategy due to emotions." Yi Lihua was still encouraging the market in January. But no one could have predicted that the market would deliver a blow to this seasoned investor. In early February, the price of ETH successively broke through key price levels such as $2200, $2000, and $1800, approaching his liquidation price. Yi Lihua sold approximately 200,000 ETH over several days to cut losses, lowering the liquidation price to around $1,600, thus avoiding a major sell-off in the early hours of today. According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's analysis today, Trend Research has already lost $763 million on this long position, not only wiping out all previous profits but also losing $448 million of its initial capital. In recent days, Yi Lihua tweeted an acknowledgment of his mistake: "Since clearing out his positions at the top, it was indeed a mistake to be bullish on ETH too early, because BTC was around 100,000 while ETH was consistently around 3,000, which we believed was undervalued. Currently, the previous round of profits has been retraced, and position size determines strategy. While controlling risk, we will continue to wait for the market to move upwards. Thank you for your concern. Investing and trading are the most difficult things. Being in the industry, it's always tempting to be bullish." "Why am I always so bullish? It's related to my past entrepreneurial experience. Back then, I couldn't find a job, so I started my own business. After earning my first pot of gold, I didn't dare to spend it all and instead invested in tech projects. I entered the crypto market in 2015 and caught that golden age, which is the reward for consistently going long. But later, I suffered huge losses in the bear market and couldn't withstand the downturn, prematurely liquidating my BTC holdings, ultimately missing the bull market after March 12th. We've experienced two bull markets after bear markets, so this time, after escaping the peak, I'm quite confident about buying the dip too early and will continue to wait while controlling the risk." Zhusu, founder of Sanjian Capital, discussed this in a post on X, stating, "Based on my experience, selling at a high point is often more dangerous than selling during a downtrend. This is because the excitement of selling at a high point can lead to premature additional buying and overconfidence. I suspect Jack Yi..." After making a nine-figure profit on October 10th, he made a similar mistake of arrogance. However, after this setback, Yi Lihua still expressed his firm view on the future market: "As bulls in this round, we are still optimistic about the new bull market: ETH will reach over $10,000, and BTC will exceed $200,000. We only made some adjustments to control risk. I know everyone is disappointed with the industry and leading companies, especially with the liquidity shortage and manipulation by some platforms caused by the 1011 incident, but I believe the long-term trend of the crypto market remains unchanged, and now is the best time to buy spot. Volatility is the biggest characteristic of the crypto market. Countless bulls in history have been shaken off by this volatility, but often they have been followed by a doubled rebound." Currently, the price of ETH has rebounded to around $1900, and Trend Research's position risk has decreased significantly. However, the impact and implications of this event on the industry will continue to unfold. The market needs more bullish pronouncements and transparent information. As one of the very few institutional representatives who choose to be "transparent on-chain" and publicly disclose all their thoughts and position dynamics, Yi Lihua's every statement and every action has become an invisible mirror for the industry: it reflects the belief in trend investing, but also amplifies the non-linear risks of leverage; it demonstrates the power of logic realization in a bull market, but also exposes the fragile balance between sentiment and position during pullbacks. However, in a market still dominated by anonymous speculators, platform manipulation, and information asymmetry, Yi Lihua's public choice is itself a rare act of courage—he validates his judgment through real on-chain operations rather than mere rhetoric. While this approach undoubtedly brings immense personal pressure and temporary losses, it also provides countless retail investors and small institutions with the most intuitive textbook: how to exit a bull market, how to buy at the bottom in a bear market, how to manage leverage, and how to control emotions. In the highly volatile and uncertain arena of the crypto market, even the most brilliant successes and the deepest cyclical insights cannot completely exempt one from the market's cruel lessons—because each cycle will re-test participants in new forms, with new intensity and new variables. In this cycle, the crypto market is closely intertwined with the macroeconomic environment (CPI, US stocks, gold, etc.) and geopolitical events. Any significant changes outside the industry could potentially reverse cyclical trends within it. This experience once again proves that what truly determines whether an investor can navigate a cycle is not the correctness of a single directional choice, but rather whether they have sufficient room for maneuver in every judgment amidst continuous uncertainty, and the ability to cut losses and restart promptly when mistakes occur. Respect for the market is a principle that every investor must always adhere to. Furthermore, it's worth noting that Trend Research, as one of the top three ETH holders in the market, has become a bellwether for institutional crypto investors in the Asia-Pacific region. Its success or failure is crucial to the Asian market's influence and status in the crypto industry. Some market observers believe that the Asian market, as a vital liquidity provider in the current crypto market, has a high proportion of retail investors and is more susceptible to emotional manipulation. If the bullish narrative is broken, the Asian market risks becoming a passive recipient of North American narratives and liquidity in the long term. Fortunately, Yi Lihua and his Trend Research are still in the game. The crypto industry needs more steadfast bulls, more transparent strategies, and more individuals like Yi Lihua. It's important to understand that Trend Research's story will be seen by more mainstream institutions and deep-pocketed firms. The crypto industry needs more stories of achieving returns through research, adherence to investment discipline, and risk control, rather than more meme-style wealth transfers. The former can attract new investors, while the latter will only exacerbate the casino-like nature of the crypto industry.