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.