Hayes Acquires Significant HYPE Token Stake
The former CEO of crypto exchange BITMEX, Arthur Hayes, has added more HYPE tokens to his portfolio after a 3-month hiatus. On-chain data revealed that the crypto investor purchased 19,227 HYPE on Wednesday, worth around $499,000.
Hayes had previously sold all his HYPE tokens in September, approximately 96,628 HYPE tokens worth $5.1 million, which he had purchased a month prior. On-chain data indicated that the entrepreneur made a 19.2% profit, about $823,000, from the sale of those tokens.
Past Transactions and Market Predictions
At the time of his September sale, Hayes revealed that he had offloaded the digital assets to purchase a new Ferrari. This move caused some backlash from traders who accused him of artificially inflating HYPE's price a month before exiting his position. Hayes later refuted these claims, explaining that the sale was linked to concerns presented by his firm. The seasoned market analyst had previously predicted at the WebX Summit on August 25 that HYPE would surge 126x by 2028. He also referred to Hyperliquid as a decentralized Binance, arguing that it could capture a Binance-level trading share.
Hayes also shared that he had a positive trading performance in the previous year, with his liquid directional book showing gains by year-end. He stated that his goal is to cover his expenses with his trading profits, a feat he accomplished several times in 2025.
While Hayes was generally profitable, he acknowledged making a few poor trades. He revealed that his biggest loss occurred when trading PUMP immediately after the token launched. Hayes plans to avoid memecoins this year, noting that he only profited from trading TRUMP. He indicated that his profitable trades were limited to HYPE, BTC, PENDLE, and ETHFI.
The investor reported that 33% of his trades were profitable, with an average profit from winning trades being 8.5 times that of losing trades. Hayes expressed confidence in improving his performance this year by focusing on his strengths and taking large, medium-term positions based on a clear macro liquidity thesis that supports his narrative.
Maelstrom's Aggressive Risk Exposure for 2026
Hayes stated recently that Maelstrom has begun the current year with maximum risk exposure. He revealed that the investment fund will continue its aggressive stance, which was adopted in the second half of 2025.
The entrepreneur also confirmed that the fund remains heavily invested in risk assets. Hayes indicated that Maelstrom will primarily focus on privacy coins, such as Zcash, and emerging decentralized finance digital assets, which are currently leading the portfolio.
Hayes maintained that this year's focus will be on privacy tokens. He believes that ZEC will become the leading privacy asset, noting that he has already established long positions in the digital asset, entering at favorable prices in Q3 of 2025.
Maelstrom entered 2026 with almost maximum risk, while we will continue to invest spare cash generated from various financing trades into Bitcoin, our dollar stables position is very low.
– Arthur Hayes, Co-founder of BITMEX.
Maelstrom’s 2026 strategy represents a shift from its public positioning early last year, when Hayes predicted that BTC would plummet to $70,000. He argued at the time that the drop would be precipitated by a financial crisis before quantitative easing resumed.
Maelstrom reduced its risk exposure in late January 2025, but began to increase risk and establish long positions in terms of outright crypto exposure in April. Hayes mentioned in December that the fund was actively accumulating assets as rate cuts and Federal Reserve expansion began to take effect.
Hayes is betting that crypto prices will rise significantly this year, driven by surging nominal GDP, increased U.S. deficit spending, and what he anticipates will be inevitable money printing by the Federal Reserve. He also argued that geopolitical tensions stemming from U.S. intervention in Venezuela will positively impact digital assets. The crypto investor believes that the U.S. will stimulate the economy with credit in an effort to maintain stable oil prices.
Embedded Tweet
Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) bought 19,227 $HYPE ($499K) again after 3 months. https://t.co/DsfW8Dyli8https://t.co/wLnxb4tRvcpic.twitter.com/VUmlZsys5A
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 14, 2026