James Fickel Continues ETH to WBTC Swap Amid ETH/BTC Decline
In a major move, James Fickel, founder of Amaranth Foundation, just exchanged 11,584 ETH for 449.55 WBTC ($27.4M) within the past 7 hours as the ETH/BTC rate keeps sliding down.
Address: 0xd85351181b3f264ee0fdfa94518464d7c3defada
📉 A Turn from Permabull to Conservative
Once a prominent ETH/BTC permabull, Fickel went long on ETH after the launch of the Bitcoin ETF on January 10, 2024, borrowing 3,061 WBTC from Aave to exchange for 56,445 ETH at a rate of 0.05424.
However, with the ETH/BTC rate plummeting, Fickel stopped his bullish stance on August 11, exchanging:
12M USDC for 211.18 WBTC38,735 ETH for 1,558 WBTC ($93.3M) at a rate of 0.0402 to repay his loan on Aave.
⚠️ Current Holdings and Losses
Fickel still has 1,308.8 WBTC ($78.8M) borrowed. At the current ETH/BTC rate of 0.03865, his overall strategy appears to have resulted in a significant loss:
Lost: ~ 21,177 ETH (~$49.2M)
It seems that Fickel’s once-bullish strategy on the ETH/BTC pair has backfired, with the sharp rate drop forcing significant losses. Keep an eye on his next moves as the market fluctuates!
