Joseph Chalom, CEO of Nasdaq-listed Sharplink Gaming, has identified Ethereum's current price correction as a strategic long-term entry point for investors. Speaking at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, Chalom drew on eight years of cryptocurrency market experience, noting he has witnessed five to six major cycles since 2017. He emphasized that each historical bear market has led to higher subsequent peaks, and the current Ethereum movement fits a typical mid-cycle correction pattern.
Chalom's perspective is backed by his company's operational model. Sharplink Gaming (SBET) operates as a digital asset treasury, holding significant Ethereum reserves as part of its strategy. The company employs tactics like strategic accumulation during corrections, Ethereum staking for revenue, and diversified Web3 investments to navigate volatility. "Staking provides particular value during market downturns, creating revenue streams independent of price appreciation," the analysis noted, highlighting an institutional approach to crypto cycles.
Despite his bullish long-term view, Chalom expressed concerns about the high correlation between cryptocurrency prices and U.S. technology stocks, which challenges crypto's status as an independent asset class. He also pointed to the need for improved security standards across the blockchain ecosystem to support mainstream institutional adoption.
Concurrently, on-chain data reveals a significant reset in Ethereum's derivatives market. According to CryptoQuant, Ethereum open interest (OI) saw two major synchronized declines in April. On April 18, Gate.io recorded approximately -$840 million in OI change, while Binance saw a -$205 million drop. By April 20, Gate.io's reading remained near -$830 million. This followed a similar flush between April 2 and April 5.
The data indicates these were deleveraging events targeting long positions. Binance's funding rate dropped to -0.0045% as OI fell, with most exchanges moving to or below zero starting April 13. This pattern—negative funding alongside falling OI—signals that longs were being liquidated or voluntarily unwound, not shorts being squeezed. The taker buy/sell ratio collapsed to 0.916 on April 19, reflecting the liquidation cascade, before recovering to a neutral 1.013 by April 20.
Analysts note that two leverage builds followed by flushes within 18 days is a clear pattern of a market building leveraged positioning only to have it systematically removed. While this has cleaned up excess speculative positioning, returning OI to its April 12 baseline, the path forward hinges on spot market demand. "The derivatives market is clean. The spot market has not yet declared its intention," the report concludes, noting that a sustained taker ratio above 1.05, coupled with real spot buying, is needed for a meaningful price advance.
