Jiang Zhuoer, founder of the Chinese Bitcoin mining pool BTC.TOP and a well-known figure in the country’s crypto sector, has abandoned his previous bearish outlook on the market. He now expresses roughly 90 percent confidence that the crypto bear market has ended and intends to direct his remaining capital toward Ethereum, expecting the asset to outperform Bitcoin in the current cycle.

From Short Positions to Renewed Buying

Jiang had sold Ethereum holdings in the $1,738 to $1,931 range and opened short positions as a hedge against further declines. When the token rose above $2,000 and continued climbing, those short positions incurred losses. He closed them and repurchased Ethereum near $2,100. Later, he sold approximately half of his spot holdings around $2,525 while attempting to capture a short-term peak, using a tight stop-loss.

Despite ongoing short-term trading activity, Jiang has shifted his broader stance. He currently keeps 20 percent to 30 percent of his intended capital in USDT reserves, waiting for an entry point. His plan calls for deploying all remaining funds into Ethereum if Bitcoin retraces to the $67,000–$72,000 range. Should that pullback fail to materialize, he intends to purchase ETH at market prices no later than the end of October.

Reasons Behind the Ethereum Preference

Jiang’s thesis centers on the relative strength of the ETH/BTC pair, which he views as evidence of genuine demand for Ethereum rather than simple capital rotation away from Bitcoin. He cites growing U.S. government support for blockchain technology under the Trump administration and the accelerating tokenization of stocks and bonds as factors that favor smart-contract platforms such as Ethereum.

BitMine’s Tom Lee has expressed a comparable perspective, pointing to the ETH/BTC ratio moving above a multi-year downtrend, tokenization momentum, and potential demand from agentic AI applications operating on Ethereum’s network.

Recent Market Moves

As of August 23, Bitcoin traded near $77,050, representing a gain of roughly 22 percent over the preceding week from levels around $63,000. Ethereum advanced more sharply in the same period, rising approximately 30 percent from near $1,880 to about $2,420. The relative outperformance of Ethereum aligns with the views now voiced by Jiang and Lee.

Jiang had previously projected a deeper decline for Bitcoin toward the $42,000–$44,000 range later in 2026, based in part on cycle analysis and other valuation metrics. The recent rebound led him to describe that earlier forecast as significantly off target and to adjust his positioning accordingly.