Today in crypto: Offchain Labs doubled down on ARB as Arbitrum crossed major network thresholds. Meanwhile, Trend Research became one of Ether’s largest corporate holders after boosting its crypto position, and Anthony Pompliano argued that Bitcoin’s muted price action reduces the risk of a major downturn next year.
Offchain Labs boosts ARB stake as Arbitrum crosses $20B milestone
Offchain Labs, the primary developer behind Arbitrum, has purchased additional ARB tokens, signaling long-term conviction in the network at a time when sentiment across the sector has weakened, and governance token prices have faced sustained pressure.
In a post on X this week, Offchain Labs said it remains “committed to growing the Arbitrum ecosystem in a meaningful way,” adding that it has increased its direct exposure to Arbitrum (ARB) under an approved purchase plan.
The development company said the move reflects its intention to continue “doubling down on the development of Arbitrum in all respects.”
Arbitrum is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network designed to improve transaction speed and reduce fees by processing transactions off-chain and then settling them on Ethereum. It uses optimistic rollups, a technique that bundles transactions and assumes they are valid unless challenged, allowing users to benefit from Ethereum’s security while lowering costs.
Offchain Labs’ renewed commitment is notable amid broader concerns that core contributors and early stakeholders across the cryptocurrency industry may be reducing exposure to governance tokens.
In Arbitrum’s case, ARB functions primarily as a governance asset, giving holders voting rights over proposals related to network upgrades, funding initiatives and ecosystem strategy. All revenue flows onchain to a treasury wallet controlled by tokenholders.
Trend Research quietly becomes one of Ethereum’s largest whales with 46K ETH buy
Trend Research purchased 46,379 Ether (ETH) on Wednesday to raise its holdings to about 580,000 ETH, making it larger than most public Ether treasuries tracked by CoinGecko.
Only two listed companies, SharpLink Gaming and BitMine Immersion Technologies, currently report bigger ETH balances, with 859,853 ETH and 4,066,062 ETH, respectively.
Trend Research is not a publicly listed company and therefore does not appear in most Ethereum treasury rankings. Still, it has drawn industry attention for its rapid ETH accumulation.
Trend Research is a secondary investment institution associated with LD Capital founder Jack Yi, who has been behind a series of large ETH purchases that began in October, blockchain records show.
A machine translation of Yi’s Thursday X post states that his company is preparing another $1 billion to keep buying Ether as he urged traders not to short.
Bitcoin won’t crash in Q1, lacks ‘crazy’ year-end price: Pomp
The lack of an exciting year-end price rally for Bitcoin (BTC) may prevent a significant crash in the first quarter of next year, Anthony Pompliano said on Tuesday.
“Given where the volatility is right now, it would be very surprising that Bitcoin’s volatility has drastically compressed and yet still could get a 70% or 80% drawdown,” Pompliano said.
“We didn’t get a blowoff top that I think people expected at the end of Q3, or beginning of Q4, but we haven’t seen the big 80% drawdown that people normally expect as well,” he added.
Pompliano said that the short-term disappointment from Bitcoin holders over it not reaching $250,000 this year overlooks its broader performance. “We have to remember that Bitcoin is up 100% in two years. It’s up almost 300% in three years. It has been compounding,” he said.
