BTC.TOP founder: US-Iran conflict a 'Suez Canal moment' as Ethereum short opens at $2,242

Jiang Zhuoer, founder of mining outfit BTC.TOP and an early Bitcoin investor, says he has opened a short position in Ethereum at $2,242, arguing that the US-Iran conflict represents a “Suez Canal moment” for American power and that the current crypto bear market is not yet over. In a post shared on Binance’s Square and relayed by Chinese-language outlets including PANews and WEEX, Jiang said recent Ethereum rebounds tied to war headlines are “all opportunities to add shorts,” describing his trade as a medium-term macro position rather than a short-term bet.

Ethereum price action and technical backdrop

At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading near the mid-$2,200s after selling off from local highs above $2,600 in late March. The decline coincided with risk assets reacting to surging oil prices and renewed geopolitical tension in the Strait of Hormuz.

On TradingView’s ETHUSDT dashboards, intraday charts show choppy trading clustered around the $2,200 zone. Short-term oscillators were described as neutral to slightly bearish, while longer-term trend gauges still reflect the broader pullback from the 2024–2025 uptrend.

“Suez Canal moment” thesis behind the ETH short

Jiang linked the US-Iran conflict to what he views as a structural weakening of US hegemony. “This is America’s Suez Canal moment,” he wrote, referencing the 1956 crisis in which Britain lost control of the Suez Canal—an episode often cited as a symbolic end to British global dominance.

He argued that the “most likely” outcome is that Iran ends up effectively controlling the Strait of Hormuz and collecting tolls on oil flows. Jiang said the US would refuse to recognize the arrangement legally but would ultimately acquiesce in practice.

Energy market risk and implications for risk assets

Kpler, an energy analytics firm, described the Strait of Hormuz crisis as one that “reshapes global oil markets.” In an April 6 briefing, Kpler said physical supply is at real risk, southern Iraqi production is being curtailed, and Iranian exports had already pre-surged to multi-year highs ahead of the confrontation.

Against that backdrop, Jiang said higher and more volatile energy prices are likely to continue pressuring risk assets such as Ethereum. He wrote that “the bear market cycle is not over yet” and that “event-driven rebounds are all opportunities to add to short positions,” while also noting a “small probability” of renewed large-scale fighting that could further stress markets.

Trade details and prior positioning

Jiang did not disclose the size or leverage of his Ethereum short. He characterized the position as a “medium-term operation,” and compared it to a prior long trade in which he bought Ethereum around $1,850 and closed near $2,144.

What to watch

Jiang’s framing ties a discretionary macro short in Ethereum at $2,242 to a geopolitical thesis involving US power, oil chokepoints, and the durability of the current crypto downturn. The extent to which the thesis plays out, according to the article, will depend less on Ethereum’s on-chain metrics and more on how the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz evolves and how much energy-driven volatility global markets can absorb.