Ethereum, just like bitcoin, saw a relief rally that pushed its price to a new three-week high. The digital asset is now trading above $1,300 for the first time since mid-December 2021, and so far, has been able to hold its gains in the market. However, not everyone is betting on the continued growth of the cryptocurrency, which could end up being a deterrent to further upside for the digital asset.

Ethereum Whales Go Short

Chinese journalist Colin Wu, popularly known as Wu Blockchain on Twitter posted a screenshot that showed that ethereum whales were still very bearish on the digital asset. For one, there were 26,000 put options for the cryptocurrency at a strike price of $400. This is a more than 200% decrease from the current price of the asset.

The traders were placed on Saturday, December 7, according to the photo, showing a high conviction of an expected price drawdown in the coming months. These options were also set to expire on June 30, giving them a five-month runway to hit this price.

Recently, there has been a large order of 26,000 ETH put options with a strike price of $400 and an expiration date of Jun 30. Some traders believe this is the tail management behavior of crypto whales. According to @Blofin_Official pic.twitter.com/VmYC44939h

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 7, 2023

Ethereum’s price has already seen a recovery since this trade was placed. But with such a long runway and the expected sell pressure to come from the Shanghai upgrade and withdrawal capabilities for staked ETH, it still remains a possibility that the digital asset would hit this price.

Not Everyone Is Bearish On ETH 

Despite such a large put position on a potential descent of atheneum’s price, not everyone is bearish on the asset. One Chinese miner Jiang Zhuoer took to social media to share his bullish executions of the cryptocurrency.

Zhuoer says he expects ETH to lead the market bull run of 2023. In fact, the miner explains that ETH will actually begin to move before BTC. He also predicts that ethereum will soon break out of its six-month-long consolidation soon.

11/ I expect #Ethereum (ETH) to start rising earlier than #Bitcoin (BTC) as the leader of the next bull market. This should occur between March and May 2023, the ETH price woule be permanently out of the current bottom range.

— Jiang Zhuoer BTC.TOP (@JiangZhuoer) January 9, 2023

As for ETH, the digital asset has fared well as the new week rolls around. It is already up 3.80% in the last day, and its gains on the 7-day chart have risen above 8%. This price increase sees it trading currently at a price of $1,311 with indicators pointing toward more upside, at least for the short term, as it moves above its 50-day moving average.

The next significant resistance now sits at $1,350 where bears are making their stand once more. This was also the local peak before the December 14 market crash, so this is an important point to beat if ETH is to see more gains.