DeFi pioneer loses $50K after failed Ether price bet

DeFi pioneer Kain Warwick agreed to pay $50,000 after losing a bet that Ether would reach $25,000 in 2025.

Warwick made the wager with Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani at 10:1 odds in November.

Ether ended the year trading near $2,980, well below the target and lower than its starting price for 2025.

The downturn followed a major crypto market liquidation in October that pushed Ether below $2,800.

Time to pay up.

Kyle Samani said.

Warwick said the bet reflected optimism around institutional adoption and real-world asset tokenisation.

He later joked about the outcome, noting Ether would have needed an additional eightfold increase.

ETH is up 50% from when we made our bet.

Kain Warwick said.

Speaking after the loss, Warwick revised his 2026 Ether price target to $10,000.

Other industry figures had also forecast strong Ether gains during 2025.

Tom Lee previously said Ether could reach between $10,000 and $12,000.

Arthur Hayes also reiterated a $10,000 Ether target during the year.

Despite price weakness, Ethereum completed two major network upgrades in 2025.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said further progress is needed to achieve its long-term vision.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $3,015.64.