BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has predicted that Zcash (ZEC) will surpass Ripple's XRP, according to a series of posts on X. Simultaneously, Arkham Intelligence has reported that Hayes is selling off Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
This chart is just so stronk I aped more. $ZEC > $XRP pic.twitter.com/2l0u1I8n7R
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) November 15, 2025
Hayes declared "$ZEC > $XRP" and stated that the Zcash chart is "just so stronk I aped more." His endorsement of Zcash comes at a time when the privacy coin is experiencing a parabolic rally, despite a broader market slump.
Hayes's Christmas Wish: ZEC
In a subsequent X post, Hayes indicated that Zcash is his primary wish for Christmas. Zcash is currently the 12th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, valued at $11.014 billion. XRP holds the fourth position, with a market capitalization exceeding $135.78 billion.
Hayes's interest in ZEC is occurring amidst a significant surge for the altcoin in recent weeks. The privacy coin has seen a substantial increase, climbing over 22% in the past week, 217% in the last month, and an impressive 1,628% over the past 12 months.
Despite Hayes's optimistic comments, Zcash experienced a 4% decline in the past 24 hours, trading at $672.77 as of 2:04 a.m. EST, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Earlier in the week, Hayes predicted that the ZEC/BTC pair would surge to 0.2. This represents a significant increase from its current level of $0.00714, according to TradingView data. If this prediction materializes, ZEC would achieve approximately a 2,701% gain against Bitcoin.
Furthermore, Hayes has recently advised investors holding ZEC on centralized exchanges to withdraw their cryptocurrency into self-custodial wallets and shield it.
Hayes Divests from Other Cryptocurrencies
While Hayes expresses a bullish outlook on ZEC, the crypto mogul appears to have reduced his holdings in several other digital assets amidst the recent market downturn.
In an X post earlier today, on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain, citing data from Arkham Intelligence, reported that Hayes is "dumping his bags heavily."
Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) is dumping his bags heavily.
He just sold 260 $ETH($820K), 2.4M $ENA($651K), 640K $LDO($480K), 1,630 $AAVE($289K) and 28,670 $UNI($209K). https://t.co/Y9pQIJy4fa pic.twitter.com/HQy88Wf1YR
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 16, 2025
According to the report, Hayes sold 260 ETH valued at $820,000, 2.4 million ENA worth $651,000, 640,000 LDO at $480,000, 1,630 AAVE for $289,000, and 28,670 UNI amounting to $209,000.
In the last 24 hours, ETH, UNI, and AAVE saw gains of 1%, 3%, and 0.5%, respectively. In contrast, ENA and LDO experienced declines of over 1% and 0.4%, respectively.